A McAlester woman found guilty of abusing and neglecting a child for over a year was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday.
In February 2023, a federal jury found Ashley Schardein, 29, and her husband, Billy Menees, 31, guilty of child abuse in Indian country and child neglect.
According to the indictment, Schardein and Menees assaulted the kid from January 2019 to May 2020, including emotional, physical, and verbal abuse.
Schardein received a concurrent 20-year prison sentence from a federal judge for each conviction. According to court documents, Schardein is also required to enroll in a treatment program for narcotic addiction, drug dependency, or alcohol dependency, as well as a mental health treatment program.
Court records state that Schardein will be under supervision for five years following her release from prison. She also does not touch or hold the child.
According to federal court documents, Menees is due to be sentenced on April 4 in the Oklahoma City federal courthouse.
In May 2020, the pair was charged in Pittsburg County District Court with child abuse by torture, kidnapping, conspiracy, and various other offenses.
According to court records, the couple abused the child by punishing her excessively with emotional and verbal abuse, as well as physical abuse such as spanking, tying the child’s hands and feet for long periods of time, shaving the child’s head, refusing to let her use the restroom, and restricting her diet to oatmeal, spinach, and water.
In May 2021, a state judge dismissed the couple’s charges based on their Native American status and the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which deprived the state of criminal jurisdiction over Native Americans in what is recognized by federal statute as “Indian Country.”
Schardein and Menees are still facing charges in Pittsburg County for the abuse of a separate child.
