Guilty pleas in child torture case
Two Escanaba residents were in court Thursday in connection with abusing, sexually assaulting, and torturing a fifteen-year-old boy.
The boy’s mother, 46-year-old Susan Bardo, pled guilty to first degree Child Abuse and to Torture in Delta County Circuit Court. One count of first degree Criminal Sexual Conduct was dropped.
Bardo’s boyfriend, 47-year-old Carl Pellinen, pled guilty to first degree Child Abuse. He also pled no contest to first degree CSC, Aiding and Abetting. Pellinen had one count of Torture dropped.
Back in April, Escanaba Public Safety officers went to a home in the 1500 block of North 20th Street in Escanaba to conduct a welfare check on a teenager.
Police found the boy in an upstairs room about eight by ten feet and lined with tarps. After Bardo and Pellinen were questioned by public safety, police searched the home and were arrested.
Bardo and Pellinen will be sentenced in August.