Woman gets 9 months for abusing man


Hammer blows, stabbing with scissors helped cause boyfriend's kidney failure.


Tuesday, January 13, 2004

EASTON -- A Bethlehem woman who abused her boyfriend physically and psychologically for months was sent Monday to Northampton County Prison for at least nine months.



Katrina Onufer, 26, hit her then-22-year-old victim with a hammer, stabbed him with scissors and knives, and disfigured his penis by biting it, records say.

During the period of abuse from February through May 2002, she sent him to the hospital with life-threatening kidney failure, records say.

The couple started dating in November 2001. By December 2001, the boyfriend had moved in with Onufer and her mother at her mother's home in the 1500 block of Valley Road in Bethlehem. They lived there until April when they both moved into Onufer's home in the 500 block of Saucon View Drive.

Records say Onufer ordered her boyfriend not to eat for up to a week at a time. After Monday's hearing, Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Taschner said the boyfriend weighed 300 pounds at the start of the relationship but dropped 70 pounds by the end. He is at least 8 inches taller than the diminutive Onufer.

The boyfriend said she punished him by making him stand up all night and not sleep. He was punished because he was late to pick up Onufer's mother. He was late because he was busy cleaning up his own blood at the couple's home, he said at a previous hearing.

Onufer beat her boyfriend so badly that he had to go to St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill for treatment, he testified at a previous hearing. Onufer told him to make up a story attributing the injuries to him being beaten and mugged by multiple people in Hellertown, he previously said.

The injuries weren't consistent with the story he gave to police, records say.

"It looked like the guy had been tortured," said Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Taschner.

Police charged the boyfriend with making a false report, and he eventually broke down and told police that Onufer had inflicted his injuries.

"He never came forward because he thought no one would believe him," Taschner said after the hearing. She called him a "brave man" for finally admitting the truth.

Onufer pleaded no contest to aggravated assault. By pleading no contest, she did not admit her guilt, only that there is enough evidence to convict her. A judge treats a no contest plea the same as a guilty plea for sentencing purposes.

Northampton County Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden sentenced Onufer to nine to 23 months in prison, followed by three years of probation. Onufer must report to prison on Jan. 23, McFadden said.

Onufer must perform 50 hours of community service and complete a batterers' counseling program. She may have no contact with the victim. The victim was present in the courtroom but did not speak.

"(The victim) thinks this is a young lady who needs some counseling, and I certainly agree," Taschner said.