An American reality TV star was found guilty of homicide by child abuse after subjecting her foster daughter to a beating for being sick. Ariel Robinson found minor fame in season 20 of Worst Cooks In America on the Food Network channel – a show that follows people with poor cooking skills, where she impressed the judges enough to win a $25,000 prize.
Robinson and her partner, Jerry, who were both black, spoke regularly on social media about their family life after fostering three white children to live with their two biological kids in Greenville, South Carolina. She once tweeted that while her black and white children were treated equally in their home, that might not be the case in the outside world. She said: “It’s a shame that as a proud mom to four beautiful boys, I can’t protect them from the reality and evil of this world once they leave the house.
“However, I will fight and use my voice to make a difference,” she wrote.
In reality, the evil lurked inside the family home, with three-year-old Victoria regularly subjected to “whoopings” at the hands of Ms Robinson.
On January 13, 2021, Robinson took Victoria to church but the toddler threw up on arrival and got sick down her dress.
Robinson was seen washing the dress in a sink where she told another member of the congregation that the child had a habit of overeating and making herself sick.
She was later seen escorting the child out of church wearing just her underwear.
The following evening, police were called to the family home as the toddler was found “unresponsive” with bruises all over her body.
Ms Robinson’s husband, Jerry, told police: “She drank a lot of water. We tried to do CPR to get it out,” with the CPR given as to why the child had so many injuries on her small body.
The story later changed, with Ms Robinson claiming that the child’s seven year old brother was responsible due to his “anger issues,” although this rationale was contradicting by doctors due to the force require to generate such bruises would be impossible for a small child to generate.
When questioned by police, Jerry eventually admitted that Ms Robinson often beat Victoria and that her being sick had caused her foster mum to get angry and subject the child to a “whooping”, which Jerry heard whilst working outside.
Ms Robinson told the child after making her leave church in her underwear: “Oh, you’re cold. You’re cold. Girls that make themselves throw up deserve to be cold.”
Jerry eventually admitted to aiding and abetting homicide by child abuse and agreed to testify against his wife. He was later sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Robinson, tearfully described Victoria as a “perfect child” and her “mini-me” during her trial as she attempted to blame her husband for one of the “scariest types of anger issues,” but her protestations were not believed by the jury.
She was eventually found guilty of homicide by child abuse and sentenced to life in prison with the judge admitting “in my 13 to 14 years as a judge, I’ve never seen anything like this. Not even approaching it.”