Oklahoma mom imprisoned for 15 years for not reporting boyfriend's abuse freed
Tondalao Hall was sent to prison for failing to protect her children, while her abusive boyfriend, who pleaded guilty to the child abuse, was put on probation.
Nov. 8, 2019, 11:40 AM EST / Updated Nov. 8, 2019, 2:00 PM EST
By Elizabeth Chuck
An Oklahoma mother who had been imprisoned for 15 years for failing to report to authorities that her boyfriend was abusing her children was freed from custody on Friday.
Tondalao Hall was sentenced in 2006 to 30 years in prison under Oklahoma's "failure to protect" law after her then-boyfriend, Robert Braxton Jr., abused two of their children so severely, at least one had multiple broken bones, according to Hall's attorney, Megan Lambert of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma. Hall had already been in jail for two years when she received her sentence.
Braxton, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to abusing the children, but was given no additional time behind bars: He received a 10-year suspended sentence and was released on probation after having served his two years in jail, Lambert said.
The discrepancy between the two punishments prompted widespread outrage and put a spotlight on Oklahoma's high incarceration rate, which is the highest in the country. The state also has the highest rate of female imprisonment.
more:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oklahoma-mom-imprisoned-15-years-not-reporting-boyfriend-s-abuse-n1078736?cid=eml_nbn_20191108
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