NM parents accused of locking up 10-year-old girl

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An eastern New Mexico couple has been jailed after a 10-year-old girl told police her father and stepmother used a timer to limit her meals, then locked her inside her bedroom to keep her from getting up to eat.

The child told police in Portales, about 20 miles from the Texas border, that she often wasn’t allowed to go to the bathroom at home and was forced to wear pull-up diapers, and her head was shaved as punishment.

Elementary school teachers called authorities Sept. 18, concerned she appeared malnourished. The child was turned over to the state Children, Youth and Families Department the same day.

The parents, Mern and Athena Shepherd, were arrested six days later and face charges of abandonment or abuse of a child. They remained jailed Thursday at the Roosevelt County Detention Center with bail set at $5,000 cash for each.

The public defender’s office will represent the couple, but a spokeswoman said they hadn’t been assigned an attorney. The Shepherds are due in court Oct. 14 for a preliminary hearing.

A Children, Youth and Families spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment, but a police report said the state agency had responded to previous complaints involving the family.

The girl’s story is detailed in reports by two police officers. She told them her family hates her and she’s treated differently from their other children. It was unclear how many siblings she has.

While the rest of the family dined elsewhere, the girl said she ate alone in the kitchen. When the stove timer went off after a few minutes, she had to throw away any food that remained.

She said that while the rest of the family would watch television, she was sent to bed, drowsy from the allergy medicine she was given to make her sleep. Her door was locked so she couldn’t get something to eat.

When the girl would ask her stepmother for permission to go to the bathroom, the woman often told her no. The 10-year-old said she had to wear pull-up diapers at night, and her head was shaved as punishment for not taking care of her hair.

The girl’s 11-year-old stepbrother told police she wasn’t allowed to eat with the family because she had broken a chair, she wore pull-ups because she wet herself, and she walked to school while the other children got a ride.

The girl told police she often was spanked with a brown leather belt. Children, Youth and Families workers found bruises where the child said she was hit.

Athena Shepherd denied mistreatment to police, saying the girl could eat as long as she wanted. She said the girl’s weight was low because she’s small but acknowledged she didn’t see eye-to-eye with her stepdaughter.

She said she locked the girl in at night because the child was “getting stuff,” required her to wear pull-ups because she left urine stains on her underwear, and cut the girl’s hair because the child pulled her hair out.

When an officer spoke separately to Mern Shepherd, the father broke down, saying his wife treated the girl roughly. He said he works long hours and takes a back seat at home.

The father said the child wasn’t known to be a liar and he’d believe what she said.

Mern Shepherd confirmed the girl had a timed period to eat, then was given Benadryl and sent to bed. He said she often wasn’t allowed to go to the bathroom and was forced to wear pull-ups.

An officer with a search warrant visited the home the day before the Shepherds’ arrest. He found a small blue table in the kitchen and a stove with a timer. He didn’t find pull-up diapers or Benadryl.

The child’s bedroom could be locked from the outside instead of having a normal inside lock. Her mattress and belongings were gone, and the parents said they’d been cleaning up and moving her into another bedroom with the other girls.