GRAFTON, N.D. (AP) - A Grafton woman who pleaded not guilty to locking four children in a dog cage has changed her plea and been sentenced.
Court documents show Jordan Nelson entered an Alford plea to four counts of child abuse or neglect, and prosecutors dismissed four felonious restraint charges. An Alford plea means Nelson acknowledges there was enough evidence to convict her.
Nelson was sentenced to serve 2 ½ years in prison. She could have faced up to 45 years behind bars on the original charges.
Authorities said the children who range in age from 5 to 9 years told investigators they were locked in the kennel in a basement with the lights off as punishment. Nelson allegedly forced one of the children to eat dog food. Nelson is not the children’s mother.
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