'House of Horrors' babysitter molested four-year-old girl and dressed as a werewolf to scare the children



Massachusetts woman Crystal Goodis was convicted on Thursday of molesting and assaulting a four-year-old girl she was babysitting

The jury heard she created 'her own house of horrors' in the home of the girl and her three-year-old brother and showed them horror films, dressed up in scary costumes to scare them and hit and kicked them

The children began suffering nightmares and behavioral issues while in Goodis' care



Goodis was ordered to serve 18 months of a two-and-a-half year sentence and register as a sex offender

A 33-year-old Massachusetts woman has been convicted of indecent assault and battery after a jury heard she 'created her own house of horrors' at the home of two children she was babysitting.

Crystal Goodis, of Norton, was hired by a mother to babysit her then-four-and-a-half year old daughter and three-year-old son in 2009. The mother testified that she stopped engaging her services three months later after noticing changes in her children.



Goodis was convicted after a two-day trial by a jury of three men and three women and Judge Debra Shopteese ordered her to serve 18 months of a two-and-a-half year sentence.

Ghoulish: Goodis' interest in the horror genre was used as evidence in the court that she dressed up in scary costumes to scare her two charges, a four-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy

According to the Sun Chronicle , the mother hired Goodis, who was the daughter of a co-worker and friend of her mother, to babysit in the spring of 2009.



The mother testified that she terminated Goodis' employment after her daughter locked herself in a closet and screamed uncontrollably after kicking Goodis in the shin so hard she had to use an ice-pack.

The mother said her daughter also began wetting the bed, her son displayed nervous tics and both children began suffering nightmares.

Horror show: Crystal Goodis was accused by the prosecution of creating a 'house of horrors' at the home of the children she was babysitting





The children testified that Goodis had punched and kicked them on the first day she babysat them in 2009, and the girl, now aged 8, said Goodis touched her private areas. The boy, now 6, told the court that the defendant laid on top of him.

According to the Sun Chronicle, Goodis is an enthusiast of the horror genre. She showed the children horror films, the court heard, and dressed up in vampire and werewolf costumes to scare them.



The children's mother said she was not aware of the abuse until 10 months after it occurred when she caught her daughter acting out inappropriate behavior.

Dark side: After being babysat by Goodis, the two children experienced nightmares, bed-wetting and behavioral issues

The girl testified that she and her brother had not told their parents about the abuse earlier because Goodis had threatened to come back and hurt them if they told anyone.

'This woman created her own house of horrors at their home in Norton,' Assistant District Attorney Karin Welker told the jury.



Goodis denied the charges against her and spoke out in her own defense. She told the court the allegations were made up by the children.

Trusted: Goodis was the daughter of a colleague of the mother of the two children she was hired to babysit

'Absolutely not. I would never do anything like that, ever. I’m not the type of person who could do anything like that,' Goodis said when her lawyer, Paula Plouffe, asked her whether she had committed the abuse.



Don't tell mom: Crystal Goodis, 33, has been entered on the sex offender registry after abusing two children and threatening them so they didn't tell their parents



She said that although she'd worked for horror-themed businesses during Halloween, she'd never been allowed to take any costumes home, and the work had occurred before she began babysitting the children.

Goodis admitted in court to initially denying knowing her accusers until pressed by detectives, but said she was nervous and felt intimidated by police. She also admitted she'd last babysat when she was a teenager.

Plouffe said the children had made up allegations of abuse against her client because they preferred a previous babysitter, and blamed Goodis for losing her. She said the 'inappropriate behavior' demonstrated by the girl could have been learned from someone else.

The Twitter feed belonging to Goodis expresses a love of the zombie TV show The Walking Dead and makes no mention of the trial. Her last tweet was on June 9.



Goodis was placed on probation for 20 years , must register as a sex offender and give a DNA sample, and undergo a sex offender and mental health evaluation .

Once released from prison, Goodis will have to abide by probation conditions including having no contact or employment with children under 12, and must stay away from children, including her own nieces and nephews, until she's completed her sex offender counseling.



'We need to let people know this cannot be tolerated,' the mother said in her victim-impact statement.

She said the children were undergoing counseling at St Anne's Hospital in Fall River and that the family had drawn closer together in the aftermath of the abuse and were hoping for a punishment suitable for someone with the responsibility of caring for children.

'We need to let people know this cannot be tolerated,' the mother said.

Goodis' mother and a friend who testified in her defense left the courtroom in tears following the verdict, while Goodis received the news stoically with an expressionless face, reported the Sun Chronicle.

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