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âI can honestly say that, in three-and-a-half years on the bench, this is by far the worst thing that has come before this court.â
These were the exact words of Ohioâs Hamilton County Pleas Court judge, Leslie Ghiz, after sentencing April Corcoran to 51 yearsÌę in prison on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).
The 32-year-old defendant was guilty of loaning her 11-year-old daughter to her drug dealer, in order to raise money to feed her heroin addiction, a Washington Report said.
With her motherâs consent, the teenager was raped, sodomized and abused multiple times by the drug supplier, who sometimes even videotaped the whole ordeal.
CorcoranÌępleaded guilty to multiple counts of complicity to rape, human trafficking and child endangerment, after admitting she forced her daughter to perform sexual acts with a 40-year-old man.
âYou showed no kind of mercy,â the judge told Corcoran. âI donât know that you grasp the damage that has been done to this poor child.â
The alleged dealer,ÌęShandell Willingham, preferred children younger than 11, and prosecutors added that Corcoran dressed her daughter up to make her look even younger.
âI guess, her drug dealer had a propensity to film little kids when they are performing sexual acts on him,âÌęAssistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Katie Pridemore said at the time of the plea.
âShe didnât have the means or the cash to buy her heroin anymore so she offered up her child in return,â she added.
Willingham, meanwhile, was also charged and is currently awaiting his hearing.
Apart from allowing her daughter be defiled,Ìę Corcoran had another special routine after her daughter was brutalized.Ìę As a âreward,â she gave her daughter heroin, the court was told.
âSometimes this defendant would give a little bit of heroin to her daughter,â Pridemore told the court. âThe daughter didnât want it but she said, âyouâre a good girl. You did the right thing.ââ
Despite the grim circumstances, the judge noticed that Corcoran has not expressed any apologies toÌęher daughter while inside the court.
âAs a parent, it is hard to imagine how you could use your child to satisfy your drug addiction,â Ghiz said. âEven after all my years as a prosecutor, I continue to be amazed at how badly parents treat their childrenâ.
James Borgen, Corcoranâs court-appointed attorney, meanwhile, expressed his sympathies to everyone involved.
âThey tell me before she [Corcoran] became hooked on heroin that she was a very loving and attentive parent,â he said. Khristian Ibarrola