Law&Crime Sidebar - 12-Year-Old Killed by 'Evil' Parents' Horrifying Torture and Abuse: Cops

Episode Date: May 18, 2024

Police in Pennsylvania are analyzing the photos and videos taken by a couple which allegedly show them abusing 12-year-old Malinda Hoagland. Investigators say while Malinda attended school online, she was often shackled in the basement of her home. Her father, Rendell Hoagland, and his fiancé, Cindy Warren, face multiple child abuse charges in connection with Malinda's death. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber breaks down this new case of alleged child abuse with former Pennsylvania prosecutor Matt Mangino.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Get 50% off of confidential background reports at https://www.truthfinder.com/lcsidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. It is a deeply troubling story out of Pennsylvania. Authorities say a 12-year-old girl was repeatedly tortured and then killed, and her father and his fiancé are now facing We're going to break down this new case of alleged child abuse with former Pennsylvania prosecutor Matthew Mangino. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Melinda Hoagland, 12 years old, Jester County, Pennsylvania, she is dead.

And authorities say her death comes after this little girl was repeatedly tortured and abused by her father, 52-year-old Rendell Hoagland, and his fiancé, 25-year-old Cindy Warren. Both have been charged with multiple counts, including attempted criminal homicide, assault, and kidnapping, and murder charges could be on the table, too. So what happened here? Well, this is where it gets incredibly disturbing. I'm going to read to you the statement from the Chester County District Attorney Christopher L. D. Berenna Sarob. Quote, doctors found a child who was emaciated. She weighed 50 pounds.

She was covered in bruises. She had a half dozen broken bones at least. Her organs were failing and ultimately she died while she was being treated at the hospital. So how did authorities discover this? Well, it turns out Mr. Hoagland called 911 saying his daughter was knocked out after hitting a tree when she was riding her bicycle. However, her injuries clearly showed there was something more here. And so a probe was launched. And what did they find?

Well, according to the DA, police discovered that Melinda had been pulled out of middle school back in late November, early December, and that she was attending online cyber classes. But while she was showing up on camera for the classes, they say she was actually tied up, shackled below. The camera couldn't pick it up. And usually she was shackled in the basement of this home. When authorities confiscated the couple's phones, authority said they discovered all of these deleted videos,

videos where Melinda was ankle cuffed to furniture, where she was allegedly screamed at, berated, apparently over a camera's speaking system. The couple forced her to do squats, run in place, forced her to sleep on the floor with no pillows or blankets. They didn't even feed her at times. These are the allegations. These are the heinous allegations of abuse that allegedly were happening for months. And in terms of evidence, it seems to only get worse because the couple reportedly deleted their text messages, which you and I both know can be evidence of consciousness of guilt.

You know you're in trouble and trying to get rid of proof. That's something prosecutors will argue. And in an arrest affidavit, Warren allegedly instructs Hoagland to, quote, run this little girl to the hospital instead of calling 911. And now they have an interesting defense. And so clearly there's a lot to break down. And for that, I want to bring in criminal defense attorney Matthew Mangino, former DA of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. Matt, good to see you. Overall thoughts, good to see you.

Overall thoughts on this case, have you ever prosecuted a case like this before? Well, Jesse, this is a horrific case. As you went over it, you know, the malnourishment, the broken bones, the bruises, you know, being cuffed to the table or other objects in the basement, certainly a sad case. And I have dealt with, unfortunately, when I was a prosecutor, cases of malnourishment and obviously cases of child abuse that resulted in death primarily with regard to younger. children than a 12-year-old. So this 12-year-old weighed 50 pounds. You know, it's a very, a very sad case and a very, very sad existence for this poor young girl who had to endure this up to her death. Why do you think they haven't been charged with murder yet? What do you think prosecutors are looking into to understand? Well, I think they're waiting to see the results of an autopsy,

because, you know, in any case, you have to prove the cause and manner of death. And so we know that there's bruising. We know that there's broken bones. We know there's malnouragement. But you need a pathologist to piece those things together if you're going to try to prove that there was an intentional killing here, or at least a killing that rose to a reckless disregard for life. So, you know, it's important that the prosecutor's office has that information in hand before they file any additional charges. Could you charge murder if someone dies during the course of child abuse, almost like a felony

murder type situation? And by that, I mean, when someone commits a felony and someone dies during the commission of the felony, you can charge them with murder. You don't necessarily have to prove that they intended to kill someone, but that the killing happens as a result. Could they be charged? And you know, I mean, you know the law in Pennsylvania, but it's not. than I. Is it possible to charge them with murder as a result of child abuse?

Well, that's an interesting question, Jesse. And I think what you need to be able to do is prove an ongoing series of abuses. So if you can show that these bone fractures, you know, six broken bones, you know, occurred over a period of time that these are the kind of fracture, spiral fractures, maybe where you've intentionally twisted the child's arm or leg and you can show that consistent a series of felonies you know that might be something that prosecutors could do so in pennsylvania that would be second degree murder uh felony murder and what's interesting about second degree murder in pennsylvania is that it's life without parole just like being convicted of first degree murder and let me tell you this if they are really

guilty of these allegations that's exactly what they should get this is a horrible horrible story. And whenever I hear stuff like this, I'm always saying to myself, how well do you really know the people in your life? How well do you know them? It's a scary thing to think about, right? What are people up to? But let me talk to you about our incredible sponsor who may be able to help you out here. This is TruthFinder. And they are a service that can provide actual safety for you guys. I say that because TruthFinder is one of the largest public records search services in the United States. Their whole goal is to help people like you learn about the people in their life. and here's how it works.

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Now, TruthFinder has been partnering with law and crime for a while. Now, we actually use it to research some of the cases that we've been covering here on sidebar, but generally speaking, it could just help provide peace of mind. mind when you do these unlimited public record searches. Also, you know what's really useful? From within the report, you can search an address, like a home address, to see registered sex offenders that may live in that area too. And that's the point. Unless you use TruthFinder, you may never know the reality about the people around you. Also, TruthFinder, incredible resource and tool to use when reconnecting with people. Long lost friends, family members you haven't spoken

to in a while. You can use TruthFinder to help drag down these people's information for you. It's a great tool. Well, right now, here's the kicker. You can get 50. 50% off of your first month of confidential background reports. Just go to truthfinder.com slash LC sidebar. I want to talk to you about the defense, though, because what's being reported is eerily reminiscent of other defenses that I've heard before in child abuse cases. So my understanding the reporting indicates that this couple says that her injuries

were from the bike accident and getting hurt on a water slide. We've seen that defense before. It's from the child falling. It's from the child's activities. They also say that she was emaciated because she was losing weight for a while and they were planning on getting her medical help. Thoughts on that defense and if you've ever seen it work. Well, I mean, that's going to be an interesting defense because in this case, there are other issues that are going to come up that are going to refute that defense. And that is a series of emails and videotapes.

Okay, so let's say, for instance, you know, a child is not thriving. They're losing weight. and, you know, maybe they're injured in some other way, you know, on a bicycle or on a slide. Why do you have that child shackled to furniture in the basement? Okay. Why did you delete your text? You know, why did essentially, you know, this young girl, you know, kind of fall off of the face of the earth in terms of their, you know, there's nothing on Facebook after a period of time, although the male child in the home.

is out with the father and going different places. You know, we see a child that looks healthy around Christmas and then when we never see anything else on social media about her again. So that defense, you know, could it work possibly? I don't think it would work in this case. You know, plus the other thing here, you know, is strange as it sounds, you have a history here, you know, with, you know, Cindy Warren, she apparently she spent, you know, a three to seven year prison term for the death or harm of another child in which the father of that child is doing 25 years to 50 years or something like that. So it's a really eerie kind of situation where you have a woman in the household who's once again facing similar charges to which she faced in the past.

Yeah. Do you think it's possible that one would turn on? on the other one would blame the abuse on the other said i had no idea what was going on you know i was leaving the child in the care of her or i was leaving the child in the care of him um you know again i i always find that to be kind of a weaker defense um because you both are responsible you both are there and particularly if they're both deleting messages or if that's what we're dealing with but talk to me if you think that's a possibility that one might turn on the other well anytime you have two people charged in the case, you know, sometimes it's the one who gets to the district attorney's office quicker to start talking about exactly what happened here. You know, what might be a more likely

defense, again, you know, look, you have to look at their text, which they try to delete and all those sort of things. Was there some abuse, domestic abuse as well? So there were some threats that you have to keep your mouth shut. You can't bring the child to the doctor. I mean, we've Seeing cases like that as well, Jesse, where you suggest that there's some influence that you're under, whether it's violence or whatever, that forces you not to take any action to protect this child. Again, it's a weak defense based on what we know about the death of this child. You know what's really chilling is that this couple had posted pictures in social media of Melinda and then they stopped doing it over the last few months. I think the last post of her was in January. But then you even go to July 4th, 2023.

Rendell Hoagland, her father posted, Happy 12th birthday, Melinda. Hope you have many, many more. We love you. Very chilling, knowing the allegations now, no? Oh, certainly. I mean, how did this evolve? I mean, this is a 12-year-old who, as I said,

a moment ago, just kind of disappears from social media with regard to her father, you know, right after Christmas. I mean, there's photographs of her, you know, getting a bike and trying on clothes. And then all of a sudden she disappears. And we find out now, you know, months later that she's severely malnourced. She has broken bones. It's really that whole, how this whole thing happened is really strange. And I'm sure prosecutors will look closely at how that process began.

You know who apparently they did post pictures of consistently? Warren's nine-year-old son, he was apparently in the home, reportedly not abused. And we've seen that too. Sometimes one child in a home is abused and the other's not. Do we know why that happens? No, I don't, that's an interesting question because you don't know what would cause a parent or a caregiver to turn on a child like that. And, you know, provide nourishment and safety and shelter to one child and not to the other. you know, is it some sort of disciplinary situation that's gone awry?

Is it a defiant, what a parent perceives as a defiant child that somehow you're going to rein them in? And then it just spins out of control. I don't know. I can't imagine what would go through a parent's mind to take care of one child and neglect the other. And by the way, a potential eyewitness to this, no? Even though nine years old, I'm sure this child could provide information to police about something.

Well, right. I mean, if this is essentially, you know, your playmate or somebody that you look up to or somebody that you commonly spend time with who all of a sudden is chained to furniture in the basement, even a nine-year-old is going to wonder, why is that happening? Yeah. What did she do? Why would, you know, my dad do that? I mean, there's so many unanswered questions here and so many.

issues that, you know, we and most people can't comprehend, but somehow these parents thought was a legitimate course of action? Or was it just an intentional killing? Let's talk about that because the superintendent for the local school district, Dr. Catherine Van Vuren, released this statement. It is with an extremely heavy heart that I share with you the devastating and tragic news that one of our former students, 12-year-old Melinda Hoagland, was found dead over the weekend, a victim of inhumane abuse by her father and his girlfriend. While this horrific news was shared in a press conference and is making headlines in the media today, the district just learned of this child's death late this morning, and we have been working to get details,

understand and process this information, and communicate with our entire school community. Melinda Hoagland was enrolled at King's Highway Elementary in April of 2022, continued on to Scott Middle School, and then North Brandywine Middle School. Our staff diligently reported concerns about Melinda's care to child line, the state agency that receives and manages his concerns regarding child abuse. Shortly thereafter, her family withdrew her from our schools in December 2023 and enrolled her in another cyber charter school. Her younger brother remained a student at King's Highway.

He is now in protective custody, expected to be relocated to another county and school district. Do they have any responsibility here? They seemed to say that we knew something was going on. They know the child's taken out of custody. Excuse me, they know that the child's taken out of school. Should the school have done more? Well, you know, if the school did what we heard there, did a child line report. So in Pennsylvania, what that means is teachers are mandated reporters.

So if they suspect that something's going on that a child's being abused or neglected, they have a responsibility to report that to the child line, through the trial line process. That case is then referred to the local children and youth services who must do an investigation at that child line report. And then there's a finding of whether it's founded abuse or unfounded abuse. So it's going to be interesting to see, you know, where that leads because ultimately the teacher or the school did what they're supposed to do, at least initially as a mandated reporter, did children's services in Chester County follow through with that investigation?

You know, they could have come in and taking the child out of the home. if there was some alleged abuse or neglect. So that's really a whole other issue that's going to have to be examined by authorities in Chester County. And like you talked about, I mean, there's a criminal history here back in 2009. Warren pleaded guilty, connection to her husband beating their three-year-old son.

She ended up serving seven years in prison. You know, I imagine if she's convicted, that would hurt her at sentencing. Her ex-husband, by the way, serving 25 to 50 years in prison for his role, and that also killing his two-year old daughter. It's just, I don't know what's going on, but it's really, really sad to see. It's heartbreaking to see. And let me just leave everybody with this. If you have concerns

about the safety of a child, even of a child that you don't really know that well, you should do something, you should say something. You can call 911. And you could also call Child Line, which we mentioned before at 800-932-031313. Matt Mangino, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you, Jesse. All right, everybody. That is all we have for you right now here on. sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. As always, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. We'll speak to you next time. or Spotify.