Michelle Lee Ratliff mugshot (Shelby County Sheriff’s Office)
A 49-year-old woman in Alabama will spend over a quarter of a century behind bars for drugging, torturing, and sexually abusing a young girl for several years. Michelle Lee Ratliff on Monday pleaded guilty to one count each of sexual torture by force, first-degree sodomy, and distribution of drugs to a minor, authorities announced.
Following the plea hearing, a judge ordered Ratliff to serve a sentence of 26 years in a state penitentiary. Due to the nature of the charges she pleaded to, Ratliff will not be eligible for parole or correctional incentive time, meaning she must serve the entire sentence before she is released.
“Crimes such as this are a stain on our community,” District Attorney Matt Casey said in a press release following the hearing. “If you commit crimes like this in Shelby County, my office will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Ratliff and her husband, 37-year-old Edwin Ratliff, were initially indicted by a grand jury on 32 criminal charges in connection with the abuse in 2021. Edwin Ratliff faced 16 charges, and Michelle Ratliff faced eight. Michelle Ratliff was also charged with five counts of production of obscene matter of a person under 17.
Ratliff’s husband pleaded guilty in April to charges of sexual torture, rape, enticing a child for an immoral purpose, production of child pornography, and sodomy. He was similarly sentenced to 26 years in prison without the possibility of being paroled early.
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Edwin Ratliff (Shelby County Sheriff’s Office)
According to a report from The Birmingham News, the Pelham Police Department at the time of their arrest said the couple sexually, physically, and mentally abused a young relative from when she was 10 until her early teens. The victim first came forward in 2019 and reportedly told investigators that Michelle and Edwin Ratliff had sexually tortured her — often more than once in a single day — with “inanimate objects.” The couple was also accused of photographing and videotaping what authorities described as heinous abuse.
The victim also reportedly told authorities she was regularly drugged before and during the assaults with prescription drugs such as Percocet, Suboxone, and Adderall. The couple also reportedly provided the victim with alcohol.
According to a report from the Shelby County Reporter, Michelle Ratliff is the victim’s biological aunt, and the abuse began in 2011 and ceased in 2015. While the victim was not a permanent resident of the home, she reportedly visited their home regularly.
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