A Virginia woman will serve 12 months in jail following a harrowing investigation into the systemic abuse and neglect of a toddler left in her care.
Carly Rae Webb, 21, was sentenced Friday, March 13, in Bedford County Circuit Court. Despite a prior conviction on 17 counts related to the mistreatment of a child between 19 and 23 months old, Webb received an active sentence of one year behind bars followed by three months of probation.
The Sentencing Breakdown
Judge James Updike Jr. presided over the emotional hearing, which concluded a legal process that began with Webb’s arrest following a months-long investigation.
While Webb was found guilty of 17 total counts in October 2025, Judge Updike dismissed 12 of those charges during Friday’s proceedings. The final sentence was structured as follows:
- Felony Child Abuse: Five years total, with four years suspended.
- Misdemeanor Assault and Battery: Five counts, with sentences ordered to run concurrently with the felony charge.
Although the total technical sentence amounted to nine years, the suspension of time means Webb will serve only one year of active incarceration.
Evidence of Systematic Cruelty
The prosecution’s case leaned heavily on digital evidence. Bedford County Investigator Michelle Alderson testified that she reviewed months of surveillance footage documenting what she described as a pattern of calculated neglect and physical violence.
Between October 2023 and January 2024, Webb subjected the toddler to extreme conditions. According to court testimony from Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Stacey Stickney, the evidence revealed that Webb:
- Deprived the child of food and water for periods lasting up to 21 hours.
- Left the toddler confined to a crib for up to nine consecutive hours.
- Struck the child in the face and engaged in psychological torment, including “pretending” to shoot the child with a toy gun and screaming expletives in the toddler’s face.
In one documented instance, prosecutors say Webb placed the child inside a box as a form of punishment.
A Breach of Trust
The courtroom heard poignant victim impact statements from the child’s parents, who identified Webb not just as a caregiver, but as a close family friend.
“I am heartbroken,” the child’s mother told the court, describing the revelation of the abuse as “a nightmare I don’t get to wake up from.” The family expressed a profound sense of betrayal, noting that the level of trust they placed in Webb made the discovery of the video footage even more devastating.
Webb addressed the court briefly during the hearing, though the details of her statement were not immediately made public. She began her sentence immediately following the hearing.
