Woman Convicted of Abusing Niece, But Not Torturing Her

Although a Superior Court jury couldn’t decide whether a woman who admitted stabbing, beating and burning her niece was guilty of torture, it did convict her Tuesday of six counts of child abuse.

After three days of deliberations, Cenovia Santiago, 25, was found guilty of child abuse that included stabbing 12-year-old Karla Romero in the shoulder, burning her stomach with a heated spoon and hitting her under the chin with a rock until her outstretched tongue became purple and swollen.

To find Santiago guilty of torture, an unusual child abuse charge that carries a possible life sentence, jurors would have had to agree that Santiago’s beatings were acts of revenge or sadism.

“It all depended on where we drew the line between punishment and torture,” said juror Leah Riordan of Glendale, who wanted to convict Santiago of torture.

Santiago confessed to police that she twisted and broke her niece’s little finger with pliers, exposing the bone, and whipped the child on her back and legs until she bled, leaving scars, according to court documents.

Detective Lillian Johnson said it was the worst case of abuse she ever had investigated. Karla, who came to the United States in late 1993 to live with relatives and learn English, has returned to her hometown of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico.

Sentencing for Santiago, who has been in the jail since last June, is scheduled for Sept. 20.