A Duchesne County woman who pleaded Guilty to 1st Degree Felony Child Abuse Homicide in 2020, was arrested this week on a new offense of Child Abuse. According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause, 46-year-old Lisa Jo Vanderlinden was arrested on October 18th for the offense of Intentional Child Abuse with Injury for allegedly slapping her adopted child and leaving a mark for several days on multiple occasions. Court records show that on November 7th, 2018, Vanderlinden was charged in 8th District Court with 1st Degree Felony Aggravated Murder in the death of her 2-year-old foster son who had been in her primary care since April 2017. In March of 2020, Vanderlinden changed her plea to Guilty of 1st Degree Felony Child Abuse Homicide ahead of a jury trial scheduled for that month. While that carries a penalty of 5 years to life in prison and a $10,000 dollar fine, her sentencing in July of 2020 reduced the penalty to 1 year in jail, probation, and a $10,000 dollar fine. Following the sentencing, the Utah Attorney General’s Office issued a statement calling the Court’s decision “beyond disappointing” and a “travesty” that “undermines the confidence of the public in our justice system’s ability to protect kids from abuse and homicide.” Soon after, the biological parents of the 2-year-old killed filed a Civil Suit against the Utah Department of Human Services, Utah Division of Child and Family Services, State of Utah, and Lisa Jo and Cody Vanderlinden. The suit claimed that even before fostering the 2-year-old, Vanderlinden had three occasions of parents accusing her of abusing foster children. The suit also stated that they had “observed major bruising” to their child and a “broken arm in a location uncommon to normal broken arms in children.” The court ordered that case dismissed in February 2023.
