John Jefferson
Insets: Jason and Kristelle Fuller (Delaware County Jail). Background: Home in Delaware, Ohio, where their children were abused (WBNS/YouTube).
An Ohio judge sentenced a father to prison for spending nearly two decades abusing and torturing his seven children, including forcing his then 14-year-old son to eat dog food and sleep in a shed.
Jason Fuller, 44, pleaded guilty to seven counts of endangering children, the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release. Delaware County Common Pleas Judge James P. Schuck sentenced Fuller to 17.5 years in prison on Monday.
“Jason Fuller’s sentence is almost one year in prison for every year he terrorized his family. We are extremely thankful these victims will be protected from him while he serves his prison sentence,” Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Schiffel said in a statement.
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Fuller’s wife, Kristelle Fuller, was sentenced to two years probation after she pleaded guilty to obstructing justice for telling her kids to lie to investigators to protect their father.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Columbus Fox affiliate WTTE, the investigation began in September 2023 when the county’s Family Services received a complaint about child abuse after someone overheard one of the sons say he was locked in a shed and fed dog food when he was 14. Officers from the Delaware Police Department went to the home and interviewed Kristelle Fuller and the son in question. The son at first denied making the comment but then said he remembered an incident that happened about six years prior in which he was “punished for doing something inappropriate in front of his sister and was grounded to the shed for a couple of nights.”
The victim said the unattached shed was in the backyard and it occurred around August. He said he was allowed back in the house in the daytime. Investigators then spoke with the victim without his mother present. An investigator asked him if there was any audio or surveillance video within the home and he said he had a device “right now that he was supposed to be recording me with,” the affidavit said. The victim said he was not recording at the time and the investigator told him he was free to do so as the officer also was filming with his body-worn camera, the affidavit said.
Detectives asked Kristelle Fuller if she remembered the incident and she said “Sure.” She then said she was instructed by her attorney not to speak with them.
Further investigation revealed the abuse was not just contained to one son, but all seven kids. That led to a 13-count indictment against Jason and Kristelle Fuller in April. The father was accused of administering “corporal punishment” and physically restraining children in a “cruel manner or for a prolonged period” that “created a substantial risk of serious physical harm.” He also “tortured and cruelly abused” the kids. Kristelle Fuller also faced charges of permitting child abuse, child endangerment and witness intimidation but those were dropped as part of her plea agreement.
Columbus CBS affiliate WBNS reported Jason Fuller beat the kids with a belt, physically restrained the children and forced them into extreme exercises which caused one of the kids to lose consciousness. Neighbors noticed something was amiss.
“She would have them out here running, P.E. because she homeschooled them and there were times the little ones were out here with no shoes on and it was sad,” neighbor Ellie Eldredge told the outlet. “My first year here I made them scarves because they were outside in the winter with no coats and, as a mom, it was just sad and they were always asking for food, it was sad.”
The kids also were known to complete work normally reserved for adults. But the extreme abuse was “well hidden” from view, according to a neighbor.
“Now the kids did a lot of work. They were telling me when they ripped the drywall out of the basement the kids did it, and they wanted to use everybody’s trash cans for it. Now the kids said they also took turns being in charge of the meals and they did all the cooking and all the cleaning and I thought, that is a lot more than my kids did,” neighbor Anita Shively said in an interview with the TV station.
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