• October 25, 2004
• Vol. 63
• No. 17

Prison Scandal Soldier Lynndie England Gives Birth to a Son

As she neared full term, Pfc. Lynndie England was feeling the discomforts of her pregnancy. There was plenty of joy, of course, like in August, when friends and family threw her a baby shower in Kentucky, where she got a bassinette, diapers and clothes. But the physical burden—including the 60 lbs. added to her 51", 100-lb. frame—took its toll. Says her sister Jessica Klinestiver: "I've never heard her complain so much in her life."

With the birth of her baby boy on Oct. 10, England won't have that problem anymore. But more serious troubles are looming. In January, England, 21, is scheduled to be court-martialed at Fort Bragg, N.C., for her alleged part in the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. Facing 19 charges of abuse and misconduct—including posing for a picture with a prisoner on a leash—she could receive as much as 38 years in prison. Her supporters say England is being made a scapegoat. "Even if you take the allegations against Lynndie at face value, how much jail time is that worth?" asks family lawyer Roy "Tuck" Hardy.

Her mother, Terrie, who has relocated from the family home in Fort Ashby, W.Va., to the Fort Bragg area, will likely take custody of the baby if her daughter is sent to prison. As for the child's father, according to Klinestiver, England has not heard from Spc. Charles Graner in nearly two months. Graner, 36, who is also facing charges in the abuse scandal, has remained in Iraq. It's unclear whether he has the means to communicate: His lawyer Guy Womack says, "He has no access to a phone at all." But an Army spokesman says generally soldiers in Iraq have use of phones and computers. (England, meanwhile, has no access to e-mail, according to her sister.) In any case, Klinestiver says, the lack of communication has weighed upon England. "She's looking at all this prison time, and he's not contacting her," says Klinestiver. "Can you imagine how emotional she'd be?"