ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) -- A Montgomery County woman has been sentenced to nine years in prison for beating her daughter, locking her in a laundry room and starving her.
Hyacinth Beverly Morgan, of Silver Spring, pleaded guilty in April to second-degree child abuse. Morgan adopted the girl three years ago from a Colombian orphanage when the girl was 9.
Prosecutors say Morgan's abuse has caused the girl to have post-traumatic stress disorder. They say she beat the child with a belt and an extension cord and eventually locked her in a laundry room, limiting her access to food and forcing her to use a bucket
as a toilet.
Authorities say the girl became so hungry she ate bird food. Eventually she escaped through a small window and made her way to a McDonald's, where police found her.
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