Katie 
Canton, Georgia: The Cherokee County District Attorney's office released a statement last Friday, March 11, concerning the sentencing of 43-year-old Christopher Matthew Davis and 37-year-old Stephanie Danielle Davis on charges related to the abuse of Stephanie's nine children.
On November 22, 2021 Stephanie Davis plead guilty to 42 charges.
In December 2021 Christopher Davis was found guilty of 47 charges. He was sentenced in January by Gordon County Superior Court Judge D. Scott Smith to two consecutive life terms in prison with an additional 841 years confinement.
On February 24, 2022 Stephanie Davis was sentenced by Judge Scott to 200 years in prison with an additional 200 years of probation.
The case came to light on February 6, 2020 when a teenage boy escaped from the home and made contact with the Calhoun Police Department.
That boy told officers that his stepfather had "slapped and punched him, hit him with a stick, strangled him, burned him with hot pol, locked him in a closet, and beat him with a belt and a wooden cane."
At the time, officers noted that the child had "visible injuries all over his head and body, in addition to a broken eardrum. The injuries were in varying stages of healing."
That same day, officers arrested Christopher Davis.
At the home, officers determined that the children, ranging in ages between 3 and 17 years of age, lacked adequate clothing, beds, blankets, and pillows.
The press release stated that during the investigation, "law enforcement determined that the abuse also included limiting food and water intake, restricting the use of the bathroom, forcing the children to eat spoiled food, and locking them upstairs when their parents were away. In addition, the children were locked in an unheated closed with no bathroom, strangled until they passed out, forced to sit on a fire ant pile, and burned with items such as sparklers and hot oil."
It wasn't until February 13 that Stephanie was also arrested.
At the time of their arrests, all of the children were homeschooled. Previously, concern had been raised by some of the Gordon County Schools counselors concerning suspected abuse. Those concerns were reported to the Division of Family and Children Services in 2019.
In May 2019 the children were withdrawn from public schools. The statement from the DA's office does not disclose what, if anything, came of the report to the DFCS.
During Stephanie's sentencing hearing, two children provided victim impact statements which indicated that, while their physical wounds were painful, they did not compare to the betrayal they felt from their own mother.
"While the physical and emotional suffering inflicted by their own mother is something that still weighs heavy on these children," Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace said after the sentencing hearing, "they are steadfast in their commitment to heal, move forward, and build a better life. Today, the children are in stable and loving foster homes and have demonstrated incredible resilience. These children are now able to live freely, without fear, and to rise above this trauma."
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