But the Stannards couldn’t wriggle out of their crimes this time, though. That’s because police arrested them on the basis of the 50-year-old victim’s allegations. In fact, this was just the beginning of the revelations concerning the Stannards and their evil abuse.
Subsequently, the trial revealed much about the nature and severity of the abuse suffered by children in the Stannards’ care. As it turned out, the couple had committed terrible acts on boys and girls over a period spanning the 1960s to the 1980s. Furthermore, all of the victims had been under the age of 16.
The judge presiding over the trial heard a laundry list of crimes. These included Valerie ramming a soap bar down a boy’s throat until he choked and regularly locking all five children in a dark basement with no food. She also held a boy’s hand to a gas burner as punishment for “stealing” a slice of bread.
