Handcuffing and starving mentally disabled daughters

Couple charged with abuse of daughters

Lexington Herald-Leader, May 4, 2006.

SOMERSET - A Somerset husband and wife accused of handcuffing and failing to properly feed their two mentally disabled daughters have been charged with felony abuse, according to a news release from the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office.

Johnny Dan Burton, 53, and Sherry Lynn Burton, 47, were each charged with six counts of first-degree criminal abuse.

The two were arrested April 25; the sheriff's office issued a news release yesterday. The release said the Burtons had in their care two daughters, ages 27 and 28, who are mentally disabled. An investigation showed the women had been bound with ropes and handcuffs and were severely malnourished. The daughters were placed in foster care.