By John Barry jbarry@norwichbulletin.com (860) 425-4221

NEW LONDON - A former Salem woman accused of brutally abusing her husband apologized to him, her two children and to the judge who sentenced her to eight years in prison.

"To my children, I can never apologize enough," said Jillian Washburn, 35, on Monday in New London Superior Court.

Washburn agreed to a plea deal in November, pleading no contest to charges of two counts of risk of injury to a child, second-degree assault and cruelty to persons. A no contest plea means Washburn does not admit guilt but agrees to accept punishment.

"This is a generous offer," said Assistant State's Attorney David Smith. The prosecutor said Washburn physically abused her husband for years, inflicting bruises and cuts that occasionally spattered his blood on the walls.

"Hundreds and thousands of hours" of videos taken by cameras in the home showed the abuse, Smith said. "You can see him screaming and yelling" as Washburn beat him, Smith said.

Washburn was arrested after her husband went to a New York hospital to have a cut on his penis treated from which he was "bleeding profusely," Smith said.

In addition, he said, the videos show that the couple's children, ages 8 and 6 when Washburn was arrested in November 2015, witnessed the beatings.

Judge Hillary Strackbein, who sentenced Washburn, called the children's presence "abhorrent. ... The children should never have been subjected to this. That's probably the worst thing."

Donald Beebe, Washburn's attorney, said the videos indicated that Washburn's husband may have consented to being beaten and might be a "self-injurer," something Smith adamantly denied.

"He was 100 percent the victim in this case," Smith said. "There's no indication there's a relationship other than her abuse."

Beebe said the videos show Washburn's husband was providing cues to her as to how he wanted her to attack him.

In a letter read by victim's advocate Stephanie Barber, Washburn's husband said she abused him for seven years, and the psychological torture she inflicted by belittling and demeaning him was even worse than numerous beatings. "Living with Jillian was a nightmare," he said.

Washburn's husband said that although in the years since her arrest, "I'm no longer the battered, beaten, terrified man" he had been, "I do not forgive Jillian" and he wants no contact between her and him and their children.

He denied being a willing victim and said "the defendant's outlandish theory that I consented to the abuse," which were published in newspaper reports of the case, and the use of the court system in an ongoing divorce case amounts to further abuse by her.

"I am deeply sorry our relationship became what it was," Washburn said.

Strackbein issued a permanent protective order banning from any contact with her husband. The judge issued protective orders for the children forbidding contact with them with the exception of what a Family Court in Norwich allows.

Washburn told the judge that she is remorseful and since her arrest, she has had therapy and taken courses in parenting and anger management to make changes in herself. "In my heart, they are deeply engraved," she said.

"The case has taught us that domestic violence can take place in many forms," Strackbein said.