Stepmom who starved, tortured and beat girl, 10 ‘to a pulp’ wants out of jail due to high-risk pregnancy
A STEPMOM who allegedly starved, tortured and beat a 10-year-old girl “to a pulp” wants out of jail due to a high-risk pregnancy.
Ashley Dawn Marie Schardein, 24, claimed she experienced contractions before and after her last hearing as she sought to be released, the McAlester News-Capital reported.
Schardein, along with the child’s father, 27-year-old Billy James Menees, are facing multiple charges in Oklahoma for allegedly beating and starving the girl.
Court documents allege Schardien and Menees punished the 10-year-old “with emotional and verbal abuse, physical abuse, including spanking, tying her hands and feet for long periods of time…”
Schardein, seven months pregnant, appeared in court on Thursday to ask for her release.
She testified that she had contractions before and after her last hearing on May 19, McAlester News-Capital reported.
Medical records discussed in court however, did not show any contractions were recorded before Schardein went back to the Pittsburg County Jail.
Schardein’s defense attorney, Brecken Wagner, argued that Schardein was “vulnerable” due to her pregnancy.
The lawyer previously said after a bond hearing that she was rushed to the hospital because she went into labor.
He added that one fight at the jail could take her and the baby’s life, and asked for Schardein to be given a medical release.
The lawyer said that Schardein could be on house arrest and have an ankle monitor.
Prosecutors, however, argued that the stepmom’s condition does not qualify her for release.
Schardein’s release was denied.
Both Schardein and Menees have been charged with child abuse by torture, along with kidnapping and four other counts of child abuse.
Prosecutors alleged the girl survived on a diet of spinach and oatmeal.
Court documents alleged that the girl was forced to sleep on concrete in a cold room without a pillow or blanket.
The girl was also forced to “stand up for painfully long periods of time during the day, sometimes in wet clothing under a cold fan,” documents alleged.
It’s also alleged that the parents shaved the child’s head and stopped her from using the toilet.
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Assistant DA Michon Hastings-Hughes said: “It’s about a little girl who was not just abused once or twice.
“But has been beaten to a pulp for at least a month, if not more. She was tortured and made to look like she just got out of Auschwitz.”
A family member reportedly contacted DHS twice about the alleged abuse.