- Aug 17, 2006
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It has been called the most horrific crime carried out against a single person in the history of Indiana. No small statement, considering this state was considered a power base for the KKK, when it was at its strongest. But the torture and eventual murder of Sylvia Likens, by the woman who was responsible for caring for her, the lack of attention by multiple adults (including Sylvia’s parents), who could have prevented the abuse and perhaps most of all, the outward-projection of the personal insecurities of the mob who attacked her, that made this crime particularly shocking and sad.
Sylvia Likens was 16 when she died in October 1965. Her parents were carnival workers, who had separated. Sylvia was the middle child, split between two sets of boy/girl twins. With her younger sister, Jenny (disabled due to polio), Sylvia lived with her mother after the separation. In July of 1965, The Likens’ mother went to jail for shoplifting. Having gone with another friend to the house of Paula Baniszewski (who went to school with Sylvia), Sylvia and Jenny were found there when their father came looking for them.
The Likens’ parents had decided to reconcile and were going to travel with a carnival, so they needed someone to look after Sylvia and Jenny. Lester Likens and Gertrude Baniszewski came to an agreement that she would look after the girls for $20 a week. When asked how he could allow his girls to stay in such squalid conditions (there was no stove, not enough beds for even the existing occupants and a total of three spoons in the house), Lester’s later account that he didn’t pry, seems disturbingly inadequate. A warning to Gertrude to make sure the girls stayed in line, because ‘their mother lets them get away with anything’ is also disturbing, when put into the context of what followed.
The abuse started quickly and escalated quickly. The first payment of board was late. Gertrude abused the girls and beat them with a paddle. Next, Paula Baniszewski told Gertrude at the dinner table that Sylvia had eaten more than her fair share at a church supper one day. As punishment, she given a frankfurt, loaded with every condiment in the house and forced to eat it. When she subsequently vomited, she was forced to eat that, as well. The Likens’ parents came to visit and noticed nothing amiss.
Sylvia later made the mistake of talking about how she had been under the covers with a boyfriend once. From then on she was regarded as a whore. Gertrude regularly kicked her in the groin and her children followed suit in physically abusing the Likens girls, with Sylvia’s body quickly becoming covered in cigarette burns. A neighbour was looking for someone to babysit her children at one stage and went to the Baniszewski’s house. Sylvia had a black eye, which Paula Baniszewski eagerly took credit for. Then she grabbed a glass of hot water and threw it at Sylvia. The woman looked elsewhere for her babysitter, but didn’t report the abuse to anyone.
Coming from a poor family, the Likens girls often rummaged through garbage for empty soft drink bottles to return for the deposit to make money. One day, when Sylvia was carrying some money, Gertrude surmised that she had either been stealing or prostituting herself. In front of a house full of kids, she forced Sylvia to strip naked and perform a strip tease. Then she made her put a glass soft drink bottle into her vagina. When Gertrude’s daughter, Stephanie, walked in on this, she hit Sylvia and ordered her to her room. That night, she wet her bed. From then on, she was forced to live in the basement, without a toilet, with dried biscuits as her only meal. When she defecated, she was forced to eat it.
Sylvia Likens was 16 when she died in October 1965. Her parents were carnival workers, who had separated. Sylvia was the middle child, split between two sets of boy/girl twins. With her younger sister, Jenny (disabled due to polio), Sylvia lived with her mother after the separation. In July of 1965, The Likens’ mother went to jail for shoplifting. Having gone with another friend to the house of Paula Baniszewski (who went to school with Sylvia), Sylvia and Jenny were found there when their father came looking for them.
The Likens’ parents had decided to reconcile and were going to travel with a carnival, so they needed someone to look after Sylvia and Jenny. Lester Likens and Gertrude Baniszewski came to an agreement that she would look after the girls for $20 a week. When asked how he could allow his girls to stay in such squalid conditions (there was no stove, not enough beds for even the existing occupants and a total of three spoons in the house), Lester’s later account that he didn’t pry, seems disturbingly inadequate. A warning to Gertrude to make sure the girls stayed in line, because ‘their mother lets them get away with anything’ is also disturbing, when put into the context of what followed.
The abuse started quickly and escalated quickly. The first payment of board was late. Gertrude abused the girls and beat them with a paddle. Next, Paula Baniszewski told Gertrude at the dinner table that Sylvia had eaten more than her fair share at a church supper one day. As punishment, she given a frankfurt, loaded with every condiment in the house and forced to eat it. When she subsequently vomited, she was forced to eat that, as well. The Likens’ parents came to visit and noticed nothing amiss.
Sylvia later made the mistake of talking about how she had been under the covers with a boyfriend once. From then on she was regarded as a whore. Gertrude regularly kicked her in the groin and her children followed suit in physically abusing the Likens girls, with Sylvia’s body quickly becoming covered in cigarette burns. A neighbour was looking for someone to babysit her children at one stage and went to the Baniszewski’s house. Sylvia had a black eye, which Paula Baniszewski eagerly took credit for. Then she grabbed a glass of hot water and threw it at Sylvia. The woman looked elsewhere for her babysitter, but didn’t report the abuse to anyone.
Coming from a poor family, the Likens girls often rummaged through garbage for empty soft drink bottles to return for the deposit to make money. One day, when Sylvia was carrying some money, Gertrude surmised that she had either been stealing or prostituting herself. In front of a house full of kids, she forced Sylvia to strip naked and perform a strip tease. Then she made her put a glass soft drink bottle into her vagina. When Gertrude’s daughter, Stephanie, walked in on this, she hit Sylvia and ordered her to her room. That night, she wet her bed. From then on, she was forced to live in the basement, without a toilet, with dried biscuits as her only meal. When she defecated, she was forced to eat it.
