Crosslake woman tortured her children, charges say

Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office trailer.

Contributed

By Dispatch staff report

November 25, 2022 at 3:12 PM

BRAINERD — A 32-year-old Crosslake woman is accused of torturing her three young children through actions like withdrawing blood, forcing them to wear casts and neck braces despite not having injuries and inflicting frequent physical abuse as punishment.

Jorden Nicole Borders was booked Wednesday, Nov. 23, in the Crow Wing County Jail after the Crow Wing County Attorney’s Office filed six felony charges and authorities issued a warrant for her arrest.

A child maltreatment investigation by the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office began in May after Children’s Minnesota hospital in the Twin Cities treated one of the children for dropping hemoglobin numbers, according to the criminal complaint. The hospital monitored the child and determined the only explanation for the condition appeared to be someone removing blood from their body.

Jorden Nicole Borders.jpg — Jorden Nicole Borders.

Borders allegedly blamed the results on the hospital lab, but a forensic interview with the children conducted Monday by authorities revealed their mother frequently withdrew blood from the child using stolen syringes before doctors’ visits. The children also told investigators they were directed to flush the blood down the toilet and instructed not to tell anyone, the complaint stated.

The child also had a PICC line, or a peripherally inserted central catheter line, to provide liquid nutrition. The complaint stated authorities determined this was medically unnecessary and left the child feeling hungry, which led to physical punishment when the child attempted to hide food in their bedroom.

Borders received financial assistance from the state of Minnesota to care for this child and was nominated to receive several gifts and money from nonprofit foundations in the area, the complaint stated, totaling more than $35,000.

As part of the investigation, authorities learned Borders also allegedly self-diagnosed her other two children as suffering from osteogenesis imperfecta, otherwise known as brittle bones disease. The children said they saw Borders steal casting supplies from medical facilities, including Minnesota Orthopaedic Care at Cuyuna Regional Medical Center, and one of the children said she put casts on them herself. A medical review of one child showed they were in a cast for 796 days, or about two years and two months of their life.

In their interviews, the children made consistent statements about the alleged torture inflicted upon them by their mother, according to the complaint. They said Borders choked them and threw them across the house, beat them with objects including a spoon and charging cords, made them stand outside in the cold in their underwear and forced them to stay in their rooms unless she wanted them to do something for her. One child said they’d never had a bed and were forced to sleep on the floor, telling authorities, “I was never safe.”

One of the children described Borders’ efforts to deceive medical professionals by making the child cough to simulate asthma or vomit while at a doctor’s appointment. Another child explained Borders forced their sibling to remain in a wheelchair when their father was home, so their father would not know Borders was lying. She also allegedly coerced her children into saying swear words or biting her to leave a mark so they would face punishment from their father, the complaint stated.

In July, authorities executed a search warrant at Borders’ Crosslake home and located syringes and casting materials. After Monday’s interviews with the children, law enforcement officials sought to arrest Borders but were unable to locate her. The complaint stated they believed Borders was hiding inside her residence.

Wednesday, a Crow Wing County judge issued a warrant for her arrest. According to the jail in-custody list, authorities booked Borders at 9:44 p.m. Wednesday. A 37-year-old man sharing the same name as the listed property owner for Borders’ residence was booked 10 minutes earlier and held on suspicion of aiding an offender to avoid arrest.

Borders has yet to appear in court on the charges, which include three serious felony counts of child torture and three felony counts of stalking. The torture charges carry a maximum penalty of up to 25 years in prison, a $35,000 fine or both. The penalty for the stalking charges includes a maximum of 10 years of prison time and/or a $20,000 fine.

By Dispatch staff report

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of "staff." Often, the "staff" byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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