Janae Elizabeth Bishop, 31, formerly of Waldorf
Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Thursday, March 7, 2024, Charles County Circuit Court Judge Donine Carrington Martin sentenced Janae Elizabeth Bishop, 32, of Waldorf, to 30 years in prison with all but 10 years suspended for two counts of Second-Degree Child Abuse.
On August 30, 2023, Bishop entered a guilty plea to the aforementioned charges.
On February 21, 2022, Bishop’s fiancé reported to officers that he witnessed and recorded Bishop assault the children, ages 5 and 3 years old at the time of the incident, in their apartment located in Waldorf.
An investigation revealed that during the morning hours of February 17, 2022, Bishop’s fiancé got the 5-year-old victim ready for school while Bishop was sleep in her bed. The fiancé attempted to wake Bishop to take the victim to school, however, she refused to take him. She began to make harmful statements and threatened to kill both victims.
Bishop got up from bed and brought the victims to the bathroom, where she filled up the bathtub.
Bishop then unclothed the victims and put them into the bathtub, where she put their heads down under the water multiple times. She then proceeded to take the victims out of the bathtub and brought them outside in the cold while they were wet and without clothing.
After putting them outside, she locked the door to enter the apartment.
During sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney John Stackhouse told the judge, “When something like this happens in the community, there’s got to be a strong reaction. This really impacts the whole community, but mostly impacts these two boys.” He furthered, “Parents get angry. Parents discipline their kids, but this is a whole other level. There are lines that you should never cross, and she crossed those lines.
On Thursday. January 26, 2023, Officer Rickard of the CCSO Warrant Unit, with the assistance of the US Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, located and arrested Janae Elizabeth Bishop, 31, formerly of Waldorf, who was wanted in connection with violating the conditions of electronic monitoring for previous physical child abuse charges.
In April 2022, detectives assigned to the Charles County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division charged Bishop with first-degree child abuse, assault, and other charges.
In June 2022, a judge ordered Bishop could be released from the Charles County Detention Center on electronic monitoring while she awaited trial.
On January 7, 2023, the courts were notified Bishop had violated the conditions of electronic monitoring and a warrant was issued. Bishop was located at an address in Landover, MD and she was transported back to Charles County.
On January 27, a judge ordered Bishop to be held without bond.
Janae Elizabeth Bishop, 31, formerly of Waldorf
