Jeremy Dawn Wilson (Place County Sheriff’s Office)
A 30-year-old man in California will spend the rest of his life behind bars for abominably attacking his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son, torturing, beating, drugging, and sodomizing the child with an unknown object. Placer County Superior Court Judge Michael W. Jones on Friday ordered Jeremy Dawn Wilson to serve a sentence of life in prison without the possibility for parole for the horrific 2020 attack on the toddler, authorities announced.
“In the face of unspeakable cruelty and beyond heinous acts, justice has been served,” Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said in a statement. “Today, we see the rightful sentencing of a monstrous individual who committed vile acts against an innocent two-year-old child. This life imprisonment stands as a resolute message that such abhorrent behavior will never be tolerated, and we will relentlessly protect our community’s most vulnerable citizens.”
According to a press release from the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, the incident unfolded in February of 2020 when Placer County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call regarding a “horrific” attack on a a small child boy in the quiet neighborhood of Foresthill. The young victim was found by his mother and immediately rushed to the emergency room.
The child’s home, typically a place of safety and comfort, had become the scene of unimaginable horror. Doctors told investigators the victim had “over a dozen fresh adult bite marks covering his body,” suffered extreme bruising and swelling on his face and mouth, and had “bruising, lacerations, and an abrasion to his genitalia.”
“The child was tortured, beaten, drugged, and sodomized with an unknown object in his own home,” the sheriff’s office wrote in the release.
Placer County Sheriff’s detectives promptly launched an intensive investigation and were quickly able to identify the suspect as Wilson, who was the live-in boyfriend of the victim’s mother.
During the emotionally charged sentencing hearing, the courtroom echoed with the heartbreaking impact of the crime as two victim impact statements were read, each one expressing deep sorrow and anger at Wilson’s actions. The statements described him as a “monster” who “preys on children” and displayed a “lack of remorse” for the unspeakable acts he had committed.
Prosecutors during the proceeding referred to Wilson’s “irredeemable” actions as a crime that “society deems to be the worst of the worst,” according to the release.
The gravity of the crime was further evident in Jones’ words as he characterized Wilson’s crime as “indescribable,” saying it was “disgusting, violent, callous, and cruel.” He continued, saying what Wilson did was “one of the worst things I have ever seen.”
Per the release, Jones — seeking an explanation as to why the defendant would ever unleash such terror on an innocent child. — repeatedly asked Wilson, “Why?” But the judge eventually conceded that the question will forever remain unanswered because Wilson has never admitted to the crime or “shown any remorse” for what he did to the boy.
Deputy District Attorney Kalin Everett, who prosecuted the case, also weighed in on the monstrous nature of the crime. Everett’s words painted a chilling picture of the assault, indicating that it was intended to be exceptionally cruel, inflicting maximum pain on the child.
“This crime was particularly heinous. The defendant took out his frustrations with the child’s mother on her toddler in the middle of the night. The victim had bruising, including bite marks, from the top of his head to tops of his feet, and on every body part in between,” Everett said. “This assault was intended to be cruel and to cause the child pain. The attack was an exceptionally depraved crime, one of the worst crimes this county has ever seen. It is irredeemable by society standards, as well by the rule of law. Wilson is now where he belongs, in prison for the rest of his life where he can never hurt another child ever again.”
“I’m very relieved that this justice was served for my child,” the victim’s mother said following the sentencing, according to a report by the Auburn Journal. “It was just the longest three and a half years to get this sentence. He’s truly a monster. God’s really the only person that could forgive him because I can’t.”
Wilson will serve his life sentence in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
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