A Minnesota mother who repeatedly drew her nine-year-old son’s blood and subjected his two siblings to fabricated medical treatments has been sentenced to 39 years in prison.
Jordan Nicole Borders, 34, was convicted in June of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of child torture, three counts of stalking, and four counts of theft by false representation.
Borders’ crimes first came to light when hospital staff noticed a sharp drop in her nine-year-old son’s hemoglobin levels while he was under observation. She claimed the hospital had taken too much blood, but her other children, an eight-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, told authorities they had seen their mother repeatedly draw blood from their brother. One of the children recalled being told to flush the blood down the toilet.
The nine-year-old told investigators the repeated extractions made him feel “sick-sleepy.” Borders also falsely claimed her other two children suffered from brittle bone disease, forcing them to wear casts and neck braces despite having no injuries, according to Yahoo.
Prosecutors said the 11-year-old boy was made to wear casts made from material stolen from a doctor’s office for two years. A police search of the family’s Crow Wing County home uncovered syringes and casting supplies. During the trial, the children described further abuse: being left unclothed in the cold, denied food, threatened with death, and forced to sleep on the floor.
The nine-year-old said he never felt safe and was told to use a wheelchair whenever his father came home. “Borders’ crimes are some of the most heinous and agonising I have seen in my time as attorney general,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
“The facts we proved in court are nothing short of horrifying. It strains the imagination and breaks my heart into pieces to think about the torture and anguish, physical, mental, and emotional, that Borders inflicted on her own children.”
Investigators determined Borders fraudulently received over $18,000 from the state of Minnesota for her son’s supposed medical condition, and more than $35,000 from non-profit organizations. Judge Patricia Aanes said Borders had abused her position of trust and acted with “particular cruelty” in carrying out the years-long abuse.
Borders will serve her sentence in a Minnesota state prison, with prosecutors noting the punishment reflects both the severity of her crimes and the enduring trauma inflicted on her children.