A Pennsylvania woman has been sentenced to a prison term ranging from four to eight years for a brutal assault on a nine-year-old girl. The child was left with injuries so severe that she was unable to sleep at night. Esmeralda Lugo, 36, was handed down her sentence this week after pleading guilty earlier in the month to the assault that took place in January 2024, as reported by the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
The District Attorney’s office released a statement on Wednesday detailing the charges against Lugo and her confession to the assault that occurred last year. Lugo reportedly struck the young girl multiple times in the face with the back of a brush at her residence on Kloss Drive on the evening of January 24, 2024. The assault resulted in a visible injury to the child’s eye, which Lugo attempted to hide using various methods such as ice, makeup, salt, and butter.
The assault came to light when a school counselor reported it after the victim confided in a staff member two days after the incident. The Manor Township Police and Lancaster County Children & Youth intervened on the same day, removing the child and an infant sibling from Lugo’s home.
The victim, in her statement to the police, revealed that the injuries were so painful that she was unable to sleep on the bruised side of her face. Lugo also punched the victim in the back and strangled her, repeating the word ‘die’. The child told investigators that she was unable to breathe for about 10 seconds while Lugo choked her.
Lugo was sentenced this week on charges of aggravated assault and strangulation. She will not be eligible for parole until she has served at least four years of her prison term.