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The last of four family members accused of sexually abusing younger relatives ages 6 to 14 has entered a guilty plea in Colquitt County Superior Court.

39-year-old Carol Jean Beaver pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty to children in the case.  She was indicted in September 2006 on three counts of child molestation that alleged that she performed oral sex on a 6-year-old boy and also had sex with the child.  She was sentenced by Judge Jim Hardy to serve 20 years in prison, 10 years each on both of the cruelty charges. Hardy also ordered a sentencing investigation and could alter that sentence during a September hearing.

Prosecutors and investigators termed the long-running abuse of the boy as the worst they had seen their careers.  The younger girls were both 8 when law enforcement began investigating the case and the oldest girl was 14.  The 22-count-indictment returned by a grand jury in September 2006 alleged multiple sex acts involving the children and adults over an extended period of time.

The abuse case came to light when the elementary-aged sister of the 14-year-old victim walked in on a relative forcing sexual intercourse on the teen.  Investigators were notified when the younger sister began talking about the abuse at school.  Beaver pleaded guilty on a separate court accusation, and the aggravated assault charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement.

Gary Wayne Arms, Beaver’s brother, pleaded guilty last month to one count of child molestation and was sentenced on July 24 to serve 10 years in prison.  Those pleas followed those of Arms’ wife, 22-year-old Angela Marie Arms and 22-year-old Russell James Fronteras, both of whom pleaded guilty in August 2008.  Fronteras, who pleaded guilty to a single count of child molestation, was sentenced in 2008 to serve six years in prison and four years on probation.  Angela Arms pleaded guilty to two counts of child molestation and was sentenced to serve five years in prison followed by five years on probation.

The accusation to which Beaver pleaded guilty alleged that she allowed Gary Arms and Angela Arms to be alone with the two younger girls with the knowledge that there was a likelihood that they would be sexually abused while with them.  Assistant District Attorney Brian McDaniel said the disposition of Beaver’s case means that the children, who were scarred by the abuse, will not have to be put through the ordeal of testifying in a trial.  Beaver’s trial was scheduled for this week had she not entered a guilty plea.

Some of the sentences in the case include conditions prohibiting any contact with the children after release from prison, and prosecutors said those requirements will be strictly enforced.

A brother and sister, who were about 6 and 8, respectively, when the abuse came to light, suffered from symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder and also had frequent thoughts about sex, Schenk said in the testimony, given at that time because she was not available the week trial was scheduled.  The children, although exposed to the abuse at such a young age that the activities seemed normal, exhibited shame and seemed aware that their frequent sexual thoughts were inappropriate.

The boy’s sexual trauma was found to be “clinically significant and consistent with his... having been sexually abused by multiple family members,” Schenk said in her recorded testimony.  The boy also reported being threatened with death if he reported the abuse and having a family member threaten him with a knife after he told another member of the family.