Guilty Plea Entered in Winona Child Torture Investigation
Winona, MN (KROC-AM News) - There has been another guilty plea in a Winona child torture case.
Winona County Court records indicate that 20-year-old Joseline Puente Gunderson has admitted to a felony count of aiding and abetting false imprisonment. The Winona woman was also originally charged with a felony count of child torture.
Coworkers Report Disturbing Video
The charges stemmed from an investigation launched by Winona police in late July after officers responded to a business where coworkers of Gunderson reported that she had shown them a video of a young child with duct tape wrapped around his wrists and ankles. The criminal complaint says one of the coworkers told police that Gunderson offered to share the video, thinking the coworker would find it funny.
Child Seen Bound With Duct Tape
According to court documents, a witness described an African-American child, approximately 3 years old, with duct tape binding his wrists and ankles together and covering his mouth. The child was sitting in a recliner and screaming, while a woman could be heard laughing in the background. The coworker identified the voice as Gunderson laughing on the video.
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The criminal complaint says Winona police then spoke with Gunderson, who confirmed recording the videos on Snapchat and showing them to the coworkers. She said she deleted the videos, but investigators were able to obtain them through a search warrant.
Child Terrified by Man Wearing Halloween-Type Clown Mask
The court document describes three videos. In the first, the child is sitting in a reclining chair, while the two other videos show him being removed from a closet as an adult male covered in a throw blanket and wearing a “full-faced, scary/creepy, Halloween-type clown mask” terrifies the boy, who is seen screaming, kicking, and flailing in an attempt to escape.
Two Additional Suspects Charged
The investigation led to charges against two men accused of being involved in the production of the videos. Twenty-seven-year-old Jalil Wilson of La Crosse was accused of being the person wearing the clown mask. He earlier entered a guilty plea to aiding and abetting false imprisonment and is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
The other man charged in the case is 25-year-old Atzavesta Raymon Williams of La Crosse, who was seen in a video pulling the child from a closet at Gunderson’s residence. He remains at large and is the subject of an arrest warrant.
Gunderson is scheduled to be sentenced in February.
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