CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - A Casper couple have denied charges that they abused their 9-year-old daughter by depriving her of adequate food, forcing her to sleep on a cot in a laundry room and locking her in the garage when the rest of the family went to church or on other outings.
Roberta Shane pleaded not guilty Wednesday to child abuse and endangering a child, and Joseph Shane pleaded not guilty to endangering a child and being an accessory to child abuse, the Casper Star-Tribune (https://bit.ly/1A33Iy2) reports. A trial date will be set by District Judge Daniel Forgey.
The girl is the daughter of Joseph Shane and had been adopted by Roberta Shane. Two other boys in the family were Roberta Shane’s biological children.
Casper police began investigating in April 2014, after a school social worker reported the girl appeared to be dirty and malnourished. The girl told the social worker her family had plans to travel to Billings, Montana, during an upcoming weekend and she was afraid she would be locked in the garage while they were gone.
The girl was placed in foster care.
About two weeks later, prosecutors say Roberta Shane contacted the girl’s caseworker and said she and her husband had decided to give her up for adoption.
“He thinks that she needs more than what we can provide, she has never wanted to live with us and he cannot keep letting her to continue to put our family through her lies,” Roberta Shane’s email said.
It also advised the caseworker that the family did not want the girl to continue seeing their physicians and that they no longer wanted to pay for her school lunches, court records said.
A child psychiatrist said he believed the girl had been emotionally abused by being isolated, humiliated and unfairly ridiculed. Prosecutors alleged the parents denied the girl food based on food allergies she did not have.
The caseworker said the girl gained 5 pounds in the first week she was in foster care, she did not have any food allergies and had not lied or stolen anything from anyone in the household, as her parents had alleged she was doing at home.
The charges were filed on Feb. 6. The Shanes were released from jail in March after posting $5,000 bond each.
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Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, https://www.trib.com
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