Stephanie Gregory in prison photo just before her release.
A Galloway Township woman who admitted to starving and beating a 9-year-old girl in her custody was released earlier this month after serving just more than a year of a five-year prison sentence, BreakingAC has learned.
Stephanie Gregory, 59, was caring for the girl and her younger brother and sister, who were even forced to participate in the abuse.
“Not only did Steff hit (my sister), she made me hit her too,” the then-10-year-old sister said in her witness impact statement read at Gregory’s sentencing Aug. 21, 2023.
“This really confused me because I never saw (my sister) do anything wrong. Every day at Steff’s house my heart hurt because I never wanted to hit (my sister) with a metal spatula, but I was afraid if I didn’t follow Steff’s rules, I would get hit too.”
The girls' younger brother also wrote of what he was forced to do.
"I hate that you starved my sister but the thing I really hate is that you made me hit (her) with a hard metal spatula," the then-9-year-old boy wrote. "Do you know how much that hurt her and me? So bad. I can never think of a time that you were nice to (her). My life is so much better without you."
Gregory pleaded guilty in May 2023, but remained free until her sentencing that August. She was sentenced to five years in prison, under the plea agreement. Because the term was a "flat" sentence, there was no minimum of parole ineligibility.
The Division of Child Protection and Permanency first received a referral Dec. 21, 2020, according to the affidavit of probable cause. Although neighbors previously told BreakingAC that there were concerns before then that were ignored.
The caller “felt (the girl) would die if left with (Gregory),” the affidavit states.
Gregory, a relative of the children, manipulated the court to keep them from their mother.
"After you completely cut me out of my children’s lives with lies and manipulation, I went into a severe depression," she wrote in her statement to the court."You had full control over the best part of me — my children — and you used it to your full advantage.
"Without them, life didn’t feel worth living. I turned to hard drugs, attempting to numb the pain because of the emptiness my heart had without my children, not caring if it took me out of this world because, to me, my world meant nothing without them," she continued. "Even after proving I was stable enough to be in their lives, you convinced the court over and over again that nothing I did was enough to be allowed to be a part of my children’s lives."
Gregory was arrested in May 2021, facing nine criminal counts, including two counts of aggravated assault and six of endangering the welfare of a child. She was released days later following a detention hearing.
The then-4-foot-tall victim weighed 37.9, with bones protruding. She was so thin, she was unable to walk.
“When I first got placed with my mom, I was so skinny from you not feeding me that I couldn’t walk on my own. I remember needing to be carried to the bathroom,” the then-12-year-old wrote in her statement to the court at Gregory’s sentencing.
Gregory faced additional charges April 20, 2022, after she allegedly tried to contact the victim’s sister while on release for the pending charges. The state made a motion at the time to have her release revoked, but were denied.
The girl continues to suffer issues, including memory and vision loss.
“My short-term memory loss sucks, but it doesn’t allow me to forget things from a long time ago, like the pain you caused me, which I wish it did,” she wrote in her victim impact statement.
She said she is legally blind with no peripheral vision, and has scars in her head from beatings with the metal spatula.
“I am a strong woman today, and it’s not because of you,” the girl wrote. “Why would someone hurt a child the way you chose to hurt me? This is a question I ask a lot but nobody can answer it.”
Gregory was released from prison Sept. 3.
