I saw this yesterday:
A judge Friday sentenced an Edwardsville woman to 18 years in prison for her part in the brutal sexual assault of an 8-year-old male family member.
Sgt. Carol Doyle of the Madison County Sheriff’s Department testified at a sentencing hearing in Madison County Circuit Court that Cassie Hall, 32, and her boyfriend committed many different sexual acts on the boy, including sexual penetration using sexual devices and forcing him to perform oral sexual acts on them.
She said detectives began to investigate the case after they were called to Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City, where the child was being treated for suicidal thoughts.
The boy had been beaten and verbally abused, and lived in filthy conditions in a mobile home where several other families lived in the 3100 block of Sand Road, Doyle said.
“(Hall) admitted beating him because she didn’t want him to grow up to be a ‘hoosier,'” Doyle said.
It is nice to see women who rape children get the sentences they deserve for the acts they have committed. Honestly, this woman probably deserves more time given what her victim is living with:
The boy still has horrible nightmares of someone sneaking up behind him and has to take sleep medication, said Kathy McHugh, a social worker with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
The child functions on a kindergarten level and has to be prevented from hurting himself, including banging his head, she testified.
Hall was apparently remorseless at her sentencing, offering no apology nor making any statement. I have to admit that the woman’s “hoosier” comment took me by surprise. I had to look up the word because I only know it to refer to people from Indiana. Apparently it can also mean white trash, in which case this woman’s cruelty is not only in sheer apathy but also stupidity. How in the world is raping and torturing a boy going to prevent him from becoming white trash? How is it going to better his social status, improve his chances for upward mobility or ensure that he either becomes impressively creative or well-educated enough to avoid becoming part of the working-class?
Again, I do not think eighteen years is quite enough.
Toy Soldiers 
Cassie Hall has commited an unthinkable act, her child was abused, treated horrible to say the least, I do know this Cassie Chancellor Horton is the child of Greg Horton and Wanda Chancellor Horton, Wanda, Cassies mother and brothers and sisters was killed on Rt 3 in around 1988, and her father was shot and killed by a guy who wanted revenge for sleeping with his wife. Cassie was a baby at the time. Cassie never had a stable life of her own she was passed to her grandma, so she could get welfare on the kid, her grandmas boyfriend had his way with Cassie molesting her and thats not all her uncles, molested her also they were all sick, I grew up in the same neighborhood, the state did nothing to stop this crazy perverted behavior, everybody in the neighborhood knew what was happening and the State did nothing to stop it, Cassie was being molested at about 1 years old, I have read many places that children who have been molested, will in fact be child molesters, I can not believe here I am reading what she had done, I feel so sad for the Baby he will need long term mental help for the rest of his life, I pray God will heal this Baby and help him live a normal life. I know of other victims of child abuse and they struggle everyday. Lets try to keep a perspective, yes this is horrible this is sick and I dont think there is anything more pathetic to do what Cassie did. She is sick, think, she too has been molested and I know this for a fact. She needs a mental Hospital.
Welcome, Sarah.
I am not sure who Cassie Chancellor Horton. Is that Hall’s maiden name?
Setting that aside for the moment, it is not true that abused children will become abusers. Only a small fraction of abused kids go on to abuse. There is, however, some evidence that indicates that children abused at very young ages have a higher likelihood of acting out, self-harm, suicide and drug use.
Nevertheless, past abuse is no excuse for doing it to someone else. I say that as someone whose family has a cycle of abuse. I know very little of what happened to my father and his siblings, but it appears to be much worse than anything done to me or their children. Yet that in no way excuses what they did and what was done. Too often we assume that sex offenders, particularly female sex offenders, are “insane ” or “crazy” and need to be hospitalized. More often than not the people are sane. Certainly disturbed, but typically in control of their behavior, which means the place they deserve to be is in prison. If they need mental assistance, then we as society should provide it for them so that when they are released they will not offend again. But for purpose of serving justice, someone like Cassie deserves the sentence she got.
I’m not sure I understood what Sarah was describing. Did people in the neighborhood know about this woman being abused as a child and nothing was done about it? Did anyone call the police and make a complaint? How would the neighbors know about this? I do not understand if so many people knew about it going on why no one stood up to these people. What kind of a neighborhood do you live in?
Roger, What I am describing is how Casey was abused as a child and I know it for a fact, she is a very sick person, she will always be sick, and need serious Mental Help, I can tell you Casey Grew up in the Care of her Grandma and her uncles, her Grandma started out wanting and caring for Casey when she was just a new baby, but as she got older 1 year old she would leave the child with her older sons teens at the time these boys had big mental problems, and was already considered a risk around other children, and here they have the control over a 1 year old child, this was very dangerous, and then grandma brought in a very unsavory character and he started taking the child, this was a very sad thing this child was being passed around, never really having any direction and being molested by who ever wanted to use her, the family, was on some kind of welfare, Casey turned out this way because she was a throw away child no one seemed to care, and when she had her child she did the same, I have read in many books about children who have been molested, and sometimes turn out to molest just as they were, I do believe with intervention, I do believe the child can completly recover, but it has to be caught early, like right after the incident, there has to be an accounting of the abuse and the child has to go thru a programming to show this was a terrible thing, this never happened with casey, she was taken from one bad place, to another, never really having a stable home. She grew up and was like the molesters who molested her, I am not giving her a excuse, because there are none, she is where she is because that is what she choose and she knew what she was doing, and that it was a terrible thing to hurt her baby boy, this poor baby needs deep seated counseling for the rest of his life, and with lots of therapy he wont do the same thing. I just hope and Pray he will find Peace in his life.
If this woman had been a child and did this, I would agree that prison would not be the best place for her. She should be in treatment, monitored and kept away from children. However, at 32-years-old the past abuse excuse no longer works. No matter how cruel the abuse was or what environment she grew up in it does not give her the right to rape and torture an 8-year-old boy.
His life and his relationship with women will be effected for a very long time.
Perhaps she was made into the person she became. I can agree with that. However, she still made a choice. Perhaps one that she did not think she had control over, but a choice nonetheless. I am speaking from experience on this. Despite what I went through as a child, I choose not to repeat it. I do think that I am tainted by what happened and that perhaps if I let my guard down that I may one day hurt someone I care about. However, it would still be my choice. And because it would be my choice, nothing that happened to me in the past can or should excuse that. It would explain my behavior, but it is not an excuse.
What you wrote above is just that. An excuse.
Dear TS I am not giving Hall an excuse, I know many people who have been molested as children, and have grow up to be Happy productive citizens. What I said was that Casey was molested and was raised not to care about her actions, and that she repeated what had happened to her, maybe with some intervention, this may have never happened, she needed help and she never got it. Now with that said, think of all the many people who have been molested, and do not commit these crimes because they may have had some one to talk to about this. I would never give any one an excuse to harm a child, I do believe when children are abuse sexually they carry with them the possibility of harming others later, I also believe demons play on there thoughts to hurt others, I think the real intervention comes fom Jesus, and Praying asking for Gods Salvation, we all need that even if you have not been raped or molested we are living in a world full of hostility, and hate, we needs Gods Love and to be good to eachother. Say a Prayer for all those who have been tormented by these things and ask God to help them every day. God Bless
Roger dated January 11-09 Roger your question. The police and the State had full knowledge of the problems in the North Granite City Area back in the 1970s the whole neighbor hood was filled with child molesters, I remember my mother always telling me to be careful when we went out to play, from one end of the neighborhood to the other end, it was sad, you cant trust. But the problem didnt end there, what about the child molesters in your own home, the silent cries, people dont realize the full scope of whats happening, and its not just my childhood neighborhood, its everywhere, there are no economic boundries, and even today the epedimic has got worse, so many families are so badly effected, there needs to be a clear understanding about intervention, that parents teach there children right away about what to look for, and to be real careful who you let your children be with, and communicate constantly with your child, and protect protect protect. We all have to work together to stop child abuse.
@Sarah
You make contradictory statements.
You say you aren’t giving her an excuse then
GO ON TO MAKE ALL KINDS OF EXCUSES for her behaviour
Seriously, you ought to look up the definition of excuse
We as a society do this all the time when women do bad things, we call them sick, we bring up past abuse and make every excuse in the book for them
As a woman I am highly insulted by the insinuation that I can’t control myself because I am a woman and I need to be treated like a child by everyone because I am having a bad period, because I had a baby and have PPD and can’t control myself.
Make note we rarely if ever make the same ‘excuses’ for men when they do these things.
Hello Janet I am sorry you have taken my statement as an insult, I am not giving Hall an excuse, I said what she did was unthinkable and sick, to say the least. I feel the Best Way Is To Allow The Death Penalty For these types of crimes, the child molesters, are like murders and they can never be rehabilitaded, so lets just forget any mental help and put all these sickos to DEATH.
Actually, the recidivism rate for sex offenders is about 15%. The media portrays them as a constant threat, however, with good treatment and therapy that does not dehumanize them, most convicted sex offenders do not reoffend.
Putting them to death solves nothing. It does not address why they offend and it will not prevent future offenders from offending. More so, in situations where the sex offender might be violent, knowing that he or she could get the death penalty might make that person more inclined to simply kill the child as it would make no difference. It also may make victims less likely to come forward, especially if the abuser is a relative or someone the child cares for. It also removes prosecutors’ ability to plea bargain as such a law would likely make the death penalty mandatory.
Who cares these monsters need to be taken off the street Hall can really never be rehabilitaded, she is nothing more then a mouth for the tax payers to feed, and yes the Death Penalty would be good, it would send a clear message to the molestors and child rapist that if you do this you will DIE, the Courts need to Kill any one who is a repeat offender, and if they have killed before, Hall was known to have done this in the past the State employees who placed this child back into her care should be charged with child abuse themselfs for not doing there job.
I At first thought what most people think about getting them help, but these Monsters dont deserve any help. Hall was a grown women and did this to her little boy, she deserves to DIE. I also believe that if child molesters continue to keep getting off then the people need to take the mattter into there own hands and kill them themself. It will happen and in fact already is.
I am reminded of something Professor Tolkien said: Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.
I do not pretend to be wise, however, I do see the wisdom in those words. As much as I do not like people who hurt children, especially the people who hurt my brothers and cousins, killing them solves nothing. It is just vengeance, and all the anger, hate and future abusers will still be there after the abuser is dead and gone. Keep Hall locked up until she has served every day of the 18-year sentence and keep her monitored so that she cannot harm any other children.
Let her keep her life, such as it is.
I agree, death solves nothing, but there needs to be something done to stop this child abuse, we all need to work together, STOP LOOK LISTEN if you see a child being abused call the POLICE report any abuse crimes, the children have no voice, we need to be their voice
There is no easy solution, especially since a great deal of abuse occurs in the home and children are not very likely to report their parents or family members. It is also difficult because it is very easy to presume that this thing or that is child abuse or a symptom of it when it could be caused by something else. I think, however, if our society were more concerned about looking out for each other we might be able to prevent more abuse.
I’m not sure if any checks this anymore but I was just released from the same prison as Cassie Hall. There is no doubt in my mind that she did these horrible things.I do not believe she should ever be released and the conditions she lives in are to good for a sadistic child molester. There is no excuse, no matter what her childhood was like. She is trying to hide what she did because she knows what a sick person she is. I would just like to bring attention to the fact that she is fighting the charges she has already pled guilty to. She is currently in trial precedeings and has a chance of getting off. If the public does not make a fuss there is a chance that this predator will be back on the streets and could possibly be given custodey of her own children back. If the fact that she was already found and pled guilty to these crimes is not enough then please take into consideration that she has been in constant contact with the man who was convicted with her. If she did not in fact do these things(She absoulty did) then what sane mother would have a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who did. Please bring attention to her possible release. Our system is flawed and only a public outcry will keep this woman behind bars. Where hopefully she will be abused in much the same matter she did to this boy.