Behind the Doors of a Controlled Home

Sonya Woodrow is currently the sole caregiver of her youngest child, who remains in the home due to her age and lack of financial independence. Sonya allegedly subjects this child to daily physical and mental abuse as part of a broader pattern of isolation and alienation. She appears to view her youngest daughter as a […]

Plentiful Stashes and Empty Fridges

While living in Invercargill, Sonya balanced a job as a cleaner with a mysterious second role she kept hidden from everyone. To preserve her budget for drugs, she refused to hire childcare for her night shifts, leaving her seven and ten-year-old children alone in South Invercargill for nine-hour stretches. She bribed them with sweets to […]

The House of Shadows: When a Mother’s Lies Become a Prison

Before fleeing Alexandra for Dunedin, Sonya orchestrated a series of bizarre disappearances, forcing her children to hide in their own home. On more than one occasion, she told friends, visitors, and even her employer that the family was going on holiday. In reality, they never left the driveway. She would tell her children there was […]

The 12-Year Ghost: The Mother Who Faked a Father’s Death

During 2004, life in Christchurch was somewhat stable for Sonya and her two young children. Every week, the kids would visit John—the father of the eldest boy. But of course, this was short lived. One afternoon Sonya pulled her children out of school with a devastating announcement: John was dead. She claimed he had passed […]

Allegation vs. Truth

In October 2015, Sonya’s 18-year-old son and a friend visited her home in North East Valley to see his younger sister. Sonya refused the visit and called the police, alleging she had been placed in an arm lock and claiming her son was intending to kidnap his sister. Her son was later arrested in Invercargill […]

The Staged Visit: How the System Failed

Concerns were raised with Child, Youth and Family (CYF) regarding Sonya’s history of abusive and unfit parenting. However, the investigation was compromised from the start. CYF alerted Sonya to their upcoming house visit, providing her with the perfect window to scrub away the evidence of neglect. Before the social workers arrived, the house underwent a […]