Federal trial continued in child abuse case
Jan. 9—A federal trial for a McAlester couple accused of abusing a 10-year-old girl scheduled to begin Tuesday was continued due to an attorney testing positive for COVID-19.
Ashley Schardein, 26, along with her husband, Billy Menees, 28, were indicted in the Eastern District of Oklahoma in 2021 on counts of child abuse in Indian country and child neglect in Indian country for the alleged child abuse and torture of a 10-year-old girl.
The indictment states starting in January 2019 and continuing on into May 2020, Schardein and Menees "did willfully and maliciously cause harm and threaten harm, fail to protect from harm, and threaten harm, torture, and injure" the girl.
An order filed Jan. 6 by U.S. District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti states Menee's lead counsel "tested positive for COVID-19 and is symptomatic.
"Under the circumstances," a jury trial of this case cannot responsibly begin as currently scheduled on Jan. 10, 2023," DeGiusti wrote. "With no objection from any party, the trial setting is continued to the court's next jury trial docket on Tuesday, Feb. 14."
According to court documents, the pair is accused of abusing the girl by excessively punishing her with emotional and verbal abuse, physical abuse that including spanking, tying her hands and feet for long periods of time, shaving her head, not allowing her to use the restroom, and restricting her diet to oatmeal, spinach, and water.
The couple has unsuccesfully three times to have the indictments dismissed against the pair, claiming the federal government no longer had jurisdiction over the matter following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Castro-Huerta v. Oklahoma. The pair has also claimed the State of Oklahoma's child abuse statute being used by the federal government was unconstitutional.
DeGiusti has denied all three motions to dismiss the indictments along with a motion to suppress which claimed a search warrant filed for a cell phone used to obtain evidence against the couple was not written in "good faith."
A motion to have the case moved to Choctaw Nation District Court was also denied.
Contact Derrick James at djames@mcalesternews.com
