Mass. Women Allegedly Burned, Disfigured 5-Year-Old in Voodoo Ritual to 'Rid Her of a Demon'
Two women face a litany of charges in Massachusetts for allegedly tying down a 5-year-old girl and burning her face in a voodoo ritual attempting to rid the misbehaving child of a demon.
The Brockton Enterprise reports that the East Bridgewater police detained the two women, identified as sisters Peggy LaBossiere, 51, and Rachel Hilaire, 40, last week.
They have pleaded not guilty to mayhem, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a child with injury, indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14 and threatening to commit a crime.
According to the paper, the women allegedly blew fire over the girl’s face. They also allegedly cut her arm and collarbone area with a needlelike object, drawing blood. They also allegedly poured an unknown substance over the girl’s eyes, causing them to burn.
The ritual allegedly left the girl permanently disfigured from the facial burns.
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The Boston Globe reports that the ritual was allegedly requested by the girl’s mother, who is LaBossiere’s hairstylist and said the child was misbehaving.
It is unknown at this time if the mother will face criminal charges.
According to NECN, the sisters allegedly threatened the girl’s’s older brother, saying they’d behead him with a machete.
In court, the sisters denied hurting the girl and threatening her brother, the station reports.
The sisters are being held on $50,000 bail each.
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The Enterprise reports that LaBossiere and Hilaire allegedly performed “cleansing baths” for family and friends.
These cleansing baths involved chanting prayers, rubbing frankincense and eucalyptus oils and sea salt on their bodies, and burning myrrh, the newspaper reported.
The alleged ritual was designed to exorcise a demonic spirit from the child, who had been acting up.
The girl and her brother are now in state custody, according to the Globe, which further reports the children allegedly told investigators the ritual was conducted over several days.