An elderly Colorado woman has been caught forcing her mentally-disabled cousin to exercise with a soap bar in his mouth before beating him in a horrific video.
Gerilynn Amaro, 71, from Strasburg, was busted by police after her own daughter filmed her abusing the 55-year-old man in her care known as ‘Oscar’.
Oscar is developmentally disabled and operates at the level of a five to eight-year-old child, according to CBS. The abuse has left him in hospital.
The violence was flagged by the suspect’s own daughter, Melissa Crawford, 48, who broke down in tears as she explained she was too scared to call the cops initially because she’s ‘terrified’ of her ‘monster’ mother.
Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said Oscar suffered ‘visible facial injuries’ and was ‘covered in bruises’ as a result of the vicious beatings.
Gerilynn Amaro (pictured), 71, from Strasburg near Denver, was busted by police after her own daughter filmed her abusing the 55-year-old man in her care known as ‘Oscar’
Amaro, an elderly Colorado woman, was caught forcing her mentally-disabled cousin to exercise with a soap bar in his mouth before beating him in a horrific video
The violence was flagged by the suspect’s own daughter, Melissa Crawford (pictured) who broke down in tears as she explained she was too scared to call the cops initially because she’s ‘terrified’ of her ‘monster’ mother
Around 17 minutes of cellphone video recorded last December shows Amaro, who is of similar height to Oscar, forcing him to exercise with soap in his mouth while screaming at him.
She reprimands him while threatening him if he didn’t properly perform ‘squats’ and running on the spot.
‘You do your squats and you do them right, now!’ Amaro can be heard yelling at him.
‘Get your f—–g arms down,’ she screams at one point. ‘If I see you do this again I’m going to break your arms.’
Amaro knocks Oscar to the ground three times during the video.
‘You hit me, I can hit you back,’ she shouts as she shoves him to the ground. She even pulls him up by his hair at one point.
Crawford said she covertly recorded the videos to document the ‘daily’ abuse while she was staying at her parent’s home from September 2023 until January 2024.
She said she felt torn between betraying her own mother to the authorities, but ultimately decided she had no choice because she feared Oscar would die.
‘Moms are the ones you run to in pain and the ones you talk to and, instead, I feel like I have a monster, but it’s still my mom,’ Crawford told CBS.
‘It’s just got to end. I have so much guilt for bringing in the government, but it was ‘Oscar die’ or ‘me turn them in.”
Crawford described Oscar as ‘like a little kid… he’s really sweet’.
She broke down in tears as she apologized for failing to alert authorities sooner, saying she was ‘terrified’ of her mother and had been ‘too scared to call the cops’.
Amaro reprimands Oscar while threatening him if he didn’t properly perform ‘squats’ and running on the spot in the horrendous video
Amaro knocks Oscar to the ground three times during the video. ‘You hit me, I can hit you back,’ she shouts as she shoves him to the ground. She even pulls him up by his hair at one point
Pictured: Amaro walking towards the camera after she was filmed abusing ‘Oscar’ in December
Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said Amaro, known as ‘Lynn’ was arrested last week after Crawford gave investigators the video.
They said cops were first called to the rural bungalow where Oscar and Amaro lived on January 20 on reports of ‘a special needs male who was threatening other family members and assaulting them’.
‘While on scene, deputies learned the man lived at the residence with family members.
‘During the course of the investigation, deputies were given video evidence of physical abuse and dehumanizing acts against the man, who was being forced to exercise for extended periods of time with a bar of soap in his mouth as an act of punishment.
‘Deputies also discovered the victim had visible facial injuries and was found covered in bruises. He is currently being treated at a local hospital.’
Amaro agreed to be interviewed by detectives, and she was charged with two felonies – second-degree assault on an at-risk person, and third-degree assault on an at-risk person.
She was booked at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility on $25K bond on February 7.
The next day, she had a court appearance in the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office – Colorado and was released on a personal recognizance bond.
Her case remains under investigation.