THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 27, 1994 TAG: 9407270366
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 29 lines
A woman who punished her 4-year-old daughter by putting her in a box inside a linen closet has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison.
Circuit Judge Frederick B. Lowe found the mother, Mercedes ``Chris'' Russell, guilty last month of child neglect and abduction for keeping the girl in a box, spanking her with a belt and calling her abusive and vulgar names.
Russell, 24, who lived in the Bancroft Hall Apartments, could have been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Instead, the judge sentenced her Monday to five years, then suspended 2 1/2 years on condition of good behavior.
She sometimes punished the girl by putting her in a 35-inch-high box in a closet. The girl is 43 inches tall. A witness testified that the girl was put in the box up to five times a day for three months.
During the trial, prosecutor Frank Zanin argued that such punishment ``rises to the level of abuse. A coffin would have been bigger.''
KEYWORDS: CHILD ABUSE ARREST TRIAL
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