Ashley Schardein, 29, and her husband, Billy Menees, 31, were each found guilty by a federal jury in February on counts of child abuse in Indian country and child neglect in Indian country. The indictment filed against the pair states starting in January and continuing into May , Schardein and Menees "did willfully and maliciously cause harm and threaten harm, fail to protect from harm, and threaten harm, torture and injure" the child.
According to court documents, the pair is accused of abusing the child by excessively punishing the child with emotional and verbal abuse, physical abuse that includes spanking, tying hands and feet for long periods of time, shaving the child's head, not allowing the child to use the restroom, and restricting the child diet to oatmeal, spinach, and water.
The sentencing date comes after a federal judge ruled in December that an opinion made by a federal appeals court did not apply to the case as argued by the defense. In United States v. Shell, the Appeals Court overturned a child abuse conviction filed in the Northern District of Oklahoma where the defendant was charged with violating Oklahoma state law. The Assimilative Crimes Act states if the federal government does not have a federal statute for the crime, the Act allows federal prosecutors "to borrow state law to fill gaps in the federal criminal law" when prosecuting a person.
Attorneys for the couple argued the decision meant that the child abuse charge should be dismissed and that a new trial should be ordered on the child neglect in accordance with the Appeals Court's ruling. District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti ruled attorneys for the couple provided no authority supporting their argument the case be dismissed based on "an intervening Tenth Circuit decision, much less an unpublished, non-binding order and judgment.
DeGiusti also wrote in his opinion the case is different than in Shell as he was charged with a single incident. DeGiusti denied motions asking for a new trial or to dismiss the case. State prosecutors originally charged the couple in May with child abuse by torture, kidnapping, conspiracy, and several charges of child abuse. A state judge dismissed the charges against the couple in May due to their Native American status and the U.
