Sylvia likens biography
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Gertrude’s parole, despite the brutality of her crime, sparked outrage and protests.
Sylvia’s case led to the creation of child abuse awareness initiatives across the country and influenced laws surrounding mandatory reporting, child welfare, and institutional responsibility.
– A memorial plaque and garden now stand in her honor in Indianapolis.
– Her story has been depicted in books and films notably:
– “The Girl Next Door” by Jack Ketchum (a fictionalized horror novel based on her case).
– “An American Crime” (2007), a dramatized film starring Ellen Page and Catherine Keener.
Sylvia never deserved the pain she endured.
In 1985, she was granted parole, despite a public petition protest that raised over 40,000 signatures. Some argue peer pressure and desensitization enabled the horrific acts.
3. That same year, Starz Home Entertainment released The Girl Next Door, adapted from the 1989 horror novel of that name by Jack Ketcham which also is loosely based on the notorious murder.
VICKIE J.
WEST (1994)
Revised July 2024
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True Crime Weekly
Sylvia Marie Likens was a 16-year-old girl from Lebanon, Indiana known for her shy, gentle nature.
Released in 1972.
– John Baniszewski Jr., Coy Hubbard, and Richard Hobbs – Found guilty of manslaughter, served brief sentences in juvenile detention.
The fact that so many children participated in Sylvia’s torture was shocking. Therefore, it can be said that Gertrude projected her problems onto Sylvia, making her the scapegoat for the Baniszewski family.
Gertrude Baniszewski, along with her own children and neighborhood children, subjected Sylvia to various forms of abuse while she lived with them.
But her story lives on as a painful warning—and a call to act, speak up, and protect those who can’t protect themselves.
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Sylvia Likens
| A sixteen-year-old girl, killed after prolonged torture and brutal torture. Date of Birth: 03.01.1949 Country: USA |
Biography of Sylvia Likens
Sylvia Likens was born into the Lester and Betty Likens family.
The abuse gradually became more cruel and degrading. She had two brothers and two sisters. She died in 1990.
– Paula Baniszewski (Gertrude’s daughter) – Convicted of second-degree murder. How could this happen in a neighborhood?
The case sparked national conversations about bystander apathy community neglect, and the failure of social institutions.
She twice escaped from prison and was granted parole 2 years later.
Stephanie Baniszewski, who voluntarily testified for the state, was granted a separate trial, found not guilty, and released. John Baniszewski Jr. lived in relative obscurity under the alias John Blake. Sylvia Likens spent the last weeks of her life shut in the basement of the house without access to food or water.
He died of diabetes on May 19, 2005, at the age of 52.
In 2007, An American Crime, a movie based on the Likens’ murder, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. The judgment was reversed on appeal in 1970, and a new trial was ordered with a change of venue. Like many girls at the time, she was interested in the Beatles and loved to sing.
However, Sylvia grew up in an unfavorable environment.
Richard Hobbs died of lung cancer on January 2, 1972, at the age of 21. Neighbors who were aware of Likens’ condition in the Baniszewski household had not interfered.
Gertrude Baniszewski pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. It is strange that Sylvia's father did not pay attention to the conditions in which the Baniszewski family lived— in a dirty and run-down house without basic amenities.
The testimony revealed that Gertrude Baniszewski had supervised and assisted her own and other neighborhood children in the daily torture of Likens. It seems that Gertrude began taking out her anger on Sylvia because of her own failed life.
Sylvia was often beaten under the pretext that she was "dirty," while the Baniszewski home was extremely filthy and neglected.