QUARRYVILLE, Pa. — A Quarryville woman is accused of abusing her 4 year-old stepson and the boy’s father faces charges for allowing it to happen. According to court documents, the boy suffered lacerations, bruises and burns, as well as emotional and psychological abuse at the hands of Danielle Lynn Duke (Miller). Duke tortured the boy at the the home she shared with Nathan Duke, the boy’s father, located at 783 Lancaster Pike. The boy was brought to police after a concerned party who had been kept away from the boy for an extended period of time saw the injuries.
Investigators say Danielle Duke would wrap the boy’s legs in a sheet and then duct tape them, confining the child for hours, a torture she called “playing mermaid.” She reportedly force fed him adult laxatives. He would be ordered to defecate on command or stay sitting on the toilet for hours. He was also force fed hot sauce and not given water to help ease the pain. If the boy soiled himself, he would be left in the soiled pull-ups for hours at a time. He was locked in a padded closet for hours, while Danielle Duke would allegedly further torture the boy by scratching the walls and telling him rats were coming to get him. While other children were taken to play at a creek, the boy was left in the car with a bandana tied tightly around his eyes so he could not see. in addition to all of this, verbal abuse was allegedly heaped on the boy, Duke calling him “a (bleeping) pig,” and other names, as weel as her threatening to “kick your (bleep).”
Nathan Duke told authorities he didn’t take his son for medical attention because he knew the injuries looked like they were the result of child abuse. He is charged with criminal conspiracy and endangering the welfare of children.
Danielle Duke is charged with aggravated assault, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint, endangering the welfare of children, terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person and harassment.
