Winnipeg woman sentenced to 12 years in 'chilling' and 'sickening' child abuse case: judge

WARNING: This article contains details of child abuse.

A Winnipeg woman was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in a child abuse case that a judge called "breathtaking in its brutality," where a girl was beaten repeatedly over four years and locked in a room without food.

Nicole Acoby, 46, previously pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault, criminal negligence causing bodily harm and failing to provide the necessaries of life as the guardian of the girl who had been given to Acoby, a relative, by the girl's parents when she was two.

Acoby's 23-year-old daughter was jointly charged with the same offences, but her case is still pending.

Provincial court heard Acoby beat the girl with her hands, metal rods, wooden planks and an extension cord all over her body. During the assaults, the girl would be held down on a bed with her face pressed into the mattress as she struggled to breathe, or duct taped to a workout bench in the basement of the home, according to an agreed statement of facts.

Court heard that the abuse would sometimes occur daily, usually when the girl did not quickly do what she was told.

The abuse began in 2019 and continued until the girl escaped from the home in 2023, when she was 12 years old.

Acoby denied the girl food for up to two days at a time, and forced her to watch as Acoby's biological children ate in front of her. She was locked in a room and told she wasn't allowed to go to school, missing all but one day of classes during the year she escaped.

She was found by a bystander as she was wandering the streets with duct tape still hanging from her arms after the last attack.

Acoby alternated between staring at the floor and shaking her head as details of the abuse were read aloud in court by the prosecution.

"I just want to apologize to my family," Acoby said. Manitoba provincial court Judge Keith Eyrikson clarified with Acoby that she was referring to her children, including the victim.

Impacts of abuse

Crown attorney Alanna Littman told court the girl was described by doctors as "profoundly malnourished" at the time she was examined following her escape. She weighed only 46 pounds when she was found.

"She was nearly starved to death, your honour," Littman said.

"There were remnants of duct tape still circling around her stomach and her ankles," said Littman. "She was wearing an infant's pull-up diaper and had open sores on her back."

The court heard that a doctor who examined the girl after she escaped the abuse wrote to the court that the girl may still show cognitive development impacts from the malnutrition she suffered.

"Through all the time I've been involved in the criminal justice system, I am amazed from time to time [by] the sickening depravity that I see in this court, and this is one of those cases," Eyrikson said.

"It is chilling in its calculation. It is profoundly un-understandable at some points at how a prolonged, torturous situation for this poor girl occurred."

'Brutal and compelling'

In lieu of a victim impact statement, the court heard a statement from a psychologist who said the girl now sufferers post-traumatic stress symptoms as a result of the abuse, including intrusive thoughts and imagery, as well as inappropriate guilt and shame, such as the girl believing she deserved the abuse because she was a "bad kid."

Defence attorney Morgan Lawrence called the case a "true plea bargain" between the Crown and defence, and noted that the agreed statement of facts filed to the court in October "expresses some degree of contemplation." 

Because this is an ongoing legal matter and Acoby's co-accused may still appear before the court, comments will be limited as they may be prejudicial, said Lawrence.

Gladue factors — systemic and background factors that affect Indigenous people — were taken into account by both Crown and defence when deciding the appropriate joint sentencing recommendations, Lawrence said.

Eyrikson said while the joint recommended sentence was near the top of the range of the allowed time, had it not been for Acoby's guilty plea, he would have imposed the maximum 14 years.

"It is that brutal and compelling," Eyrikson said.

A young girl who should have been able to trust Acoby more than anyone in life was deprived of food, tortured, hit with weaponry and forced to endure an overlay of humiliation, said Eyrikson.

"This child abuse which occurred here is breathtaking in its brutality and sickening to the very core."

Eyrikson said he took comfort in hearing from the Crown that the girl has been "flourishing and thriving" since escaping Acoby's home, and hoped that she continues to progress. 

"How brave she must be," said Eyrikson. "It makes this court very happy to know."

For anyone affected by this news, there is mental health support available through:

• Klinic Crisis Line: 204-786-8686, or 1-888-322-3019.
• Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868.
• First Nations and Inuit Hope & Wellness Help Line: 1-855-242-3310 (toll-free).