A 27-year-old woman in South Carolina will spend decades behind bars for severely abusing her 8-year-old stepdaughter physically and emotionally with allegations that included forcing the child to eat animal feces and feeding the child laxatives she was told were candy gummies.

Seventh Judicial Circuit Judge Grace Gilchrist Knie on Wednesday ordered Tenika Draper to serve 35 years in a state correctional facility, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.

The judge handed down the sentence after Draper pleaded guilty to 20 counts of unlawful neglect of a child and two counts of obstruction of justice. Following her incarceration, Draper will have to complete an additional five years of supervised release.

The felony cases against Draper's three co-defendants — Ian Tatro, Trina Draper, a

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