After an unprecedented case of medical child abuse that stunned seasoned attorneys and appalled doctors, a Minnesota mother has been convicted to almost 40 years in prison.
Jordan Nicole Borders, 34, has been found guilty of four counts of theft by false representation, three counts of child torture, three counts of stalking, and one count of first-degree murder. She is expected to serve 468 months, or just under 39 years, in prison.
For years, this Minnesota mom reportedly subjected her three children to extreme cruelty at home, made her other two wear medical devices for fake conditions, and emptied her nine-year-old son’s blood, according to court testimony. Her incentive, according to the prosecution, was not just control but also money. In fact, by claiming her son’s fatal illness, she got over $18,000 from the state of Minnesota and an estimated $35,000 from non-profits.
The scheme came to light when health care workers from several Minnesota hospitals saw an alarming pattern: Borders’ young son’s hemoglobin levels continued to drop, but an assortment of tests and surgeries fell short of finding a cause.
Borders pinned hospital employees for drawing too much blood, but her two other children, an 11-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl, told law enforcement they had seen their mother draw their brother’s blood herself.
The boy told authorities that he felt “sick-sleepy” because this happened often.
They also found that Borders had diagnosed her two older children with brittle bone disease, a dangerous genetic disorder, even though they did not have it. To keep up the charade, she made them wear neck braces and casts, and she even stole medical supplies from a doctor’s office. For two years, one child was kept in a cast.
Syringes have been found during the police search of the Crow Wing County, Minnesota home, giving away more proof of her disturbing actions. The horror was not limited to the invented medical conditions.
The children presented evidence in court about physical and psychological abuse that the defense claimed was unrelenting.
BRAINERD — Jorden Nicole Borders, the 34-year-old Crosslake woman found guilty of torturing her three children, was sentenced to 468 months in prison Thursday, Aug. 7, in Crow Wing County District Court.
Borders was found guilty June 5 by Judge Patricia Aanes on all 11 counts in… pic.twitter.com/CqaPMX2UGP
— Qᴀɢɢ.ɴᴇᴡꜱ (@qaggnews) August 9, 2025
According to reports, Borders denied them food, threatened to kill them, made the nine-year-old sleep on the ground, and made them stand naked in the bitter Minnesota cold. The boy was allegedly forced to use a wheelchair to keep up the impression of being ill when their father came to visit.
“Borders’ crimes are some of the most heinous and agonizing I have seen in my time as attorney general,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, without holding back. “The facts we proved in court are nothing short of horrifying. It strains the imagination and breaks my heart (…) to think about the torture and anguish – physical, mental, and emotional – that Borders inflicted.”
Judge Patricia Aanes focused on the deliberately calculated nature of Borders’ abuse during sentencing by stating that she acted with “particular cruelty.”
A 35-year-old Minnesota mother of three will spend almost four decades behind bars for a horrifying and bizarre regime of abuse and torture meted out to her children.
In June, Borders, 35, was convicted of all charges against her, including one court of attempted murder,…
1/3 pic.twitter.com/GItlXC3Gof— ˶˃ NewsCat 📰🗞️NO DMs˂˶ (@typocatCAv2) August 9, 2025
After a protracted trial that included testimony from the children themselves, child welfare professionals, and health care providers, the guilty verdict was handed down in June.
Borders will now serve her decades-long sentence in a Minnesota prison, but her children are likely to struggle with the physical and emotional scars she left behind for the rest of their lives.
