Sean Paddock
Mother is found guilty of first-degree murder, gets life sentence in death of adopted 4-year-old
A Johnston County jury declared Paddock guilty Thursday of first-degree murder and child abuse.
The trial of Lynn Paddock commences on Monday 19th May 2008. She is being tried for the murder of her 4 year old son Sean. Lynn Paddock followed the teachings of the Pearl’s and in particular their book to “Train up a Child”. This book amounts to nothing more than a child abuse manual.
Mandy Locke a reporter for the News and Observer has been covering the story since the beginning. To follow the trial please access the News and Observer’s website.
The book that tells you how to whip babies and beat older children with branches, paddles and plastic piping is sold in Australia by a Mr John Angelico and other sources.
The book sold by Angelico has been linked to the death of Sean Paddock. Both his siblings were found with marks consistent with being beaten with plastic piping.
Eyewitness News has learned that blankets were used to punish and ultimately kill Sean Paddock.
Sean’s 8-year-old sister and 9-year-old brother told detectives last week that Lynn Paddock punished with beatings using a PVC pipe. The 9-year-old boy was beaten so badly he limped, a prosecutor said.
The 4-year-old boy was wrapped in blankets so snugly that he lost consciousness, the state medical examiner said. Investigators said he was repeatedly wrapped up as punishment in the days before his death Feb. 26.
The boy’s mother, Lynn Paddock, 45, is charged with his murder.
“The binding was a form of punishment and had occurred several times in the week leading to his death,” Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said Friday. “This is the most extreme case of torture of a child I have ever seen.”
The articles below are taken from the News and Observer.
Boy’s death spurs lawsuit
It has been two years since 4-year-old Sean Paddock suffocated to death in the home of people the state had entrusted to raise him, and the boy’s grandfather wants to know why.
Adopted boy’s death spurs custody battle
Ron Ford Sr. and his wife, Debbie, want back two battered grandchildren the Ford family lost to strangers years ago. They regret it took the death of the children’s younger brother to spur this fight.
Child’s death spurs changes
According to reports released Thursday, Wake County Child Welfare Services has adopted a slew of new policies and is considering other recommendations designed to avoid the circumstances that contributed to Sean Paddock’s death.
Autopsy: Blankets were to keep boy in bed
Report delves into suffocation.
Parenting guru is revered, reviled
Pastor Michael Pearl teaches hundreds of thousands of parents strategies for rearing submissive, obedient children. Pearl’s advice cited in N.C. child’s death.
Dead child’s mom sought discipline tips
Lynn Paddock — a Johnston County mother accused of murdering Sean, her 4-year-old adopted son, and beating two other adopted children — found literature by an evangelical minister and his wife who recommended using plumbing supply lines to spank misbehaving children.
Mom’s murder charge upgraded
Lynn Paddock, the Johnston County woman accused of suffocating her 4-year-old adopted son, now faces a charge of first-degree murder. District Attorney Tom Lock said his office will make the case to a jury that Paddock tortured the boy to death.
State gave couple stipend
The state paid Sean Paddock’s adoptive parents $390 each month to care for the 4-year-old boy, who died last month after being bound so tightly in blankets that he suffocated. Lynn Paddock, the adoptive mother, is charged with murder.
Autopsy reveals child was tied
Police say mother was punishing son.
Tot is laid to rest amid questions
A report from Johnston County Social Services shows that red flags were raised about Lynn Paddock and her husband, Johnny, seven months before Sean and his older brother and sister were adopted. Lynn Paddock is charged with killing Sean.
Dead boy’s mother accused before
Seven months before Lynn Marie Paddock adopted the 4-year-old boy she’s charged with killing, Johnston County social workers went to her remote farmhouse to investigate allegations of child abuse, officials said Monday.
Mother charged in death of boy
Two other children have signs of abuse.
