The preliminary hearing of a Gore woman accused of abusing her four-year-old great-nephew was recently rescheduled for Sept. 6.

Jeff Sheridan, Sequoyah County assistant district attorney, said Thursday that Sharon Kay Smith's case will be consolidated with the case of her daughter, Brenna A. Smith, 30, who is also accused of abusing the boy at their home in Gore. Sharon Smith's preliminary hearing was previously set for Thursday.

Brenna Smith was arrested last week and is facing a felony child abuse charge. Her arrest was the fourth in connection with the alleged torture and starvation of the boy at the Gore home and at a home near Braggs. The boy's mother and step-father are also being held on abuse charges.

Brenna Smith is free from the Sequoyah County Jail in Sallisaw on a $5,000 bond.

Kyle Waters and Jeff Sheridan, Sequoyah County assistant district attorneys, said last week that amended charges will be filed in Sharon Smith's case to also include a felony child neglect count. She pleaded not guilty last month in Sequoyah County District Court and is currently free on a $10,000 bond.

The child's mother, Melanie Smith, and step-father, Roy Albert Smith, who live in Muskogee County near Gore, are also facing felony child abuse, child neglect, and child endangerment counts in Muskogee County District Court. Police said the pair are actually half-brother and sister, but were living together as man and wife.

The discovery of the abuse came after the Department of Human Services (DHS) received an anonymous tip about the child, and DHS asked Gore police to conduct a welfare check on the boy at the home of Sharon Smith, who was allegedly babysitting the child while his parents were working.

The boy was found by Gore police on June 25 and was taken into custody by DHS. Police said the four-year-old could barely walk, was bruised, and weighed 26 pounds when he was taken into custody at Sharon Smith's home.

Muskogee County Sheriff's Deputies Jan Ray and Tim Brown said that the boy is in foster care in Sequoyah County.

"He's doing fine," Brown said. "His foster parents are absolutely wonderful." Ray said the boy has gained weight and can walk by himself now.

Brown said the boy seems to be happy, but it's likely there will be some type of long-term effects associated with the abuse.

A Sequoyah County DHS child welfare supervisor said she can't confirm that the boy is in foster care or even if he is in Sequoyah County, due to confidentiality reasons.

According to court records, the boy told police that Brenna Smith, who is the boy's cousin, placed handcuffs on his ankles at the direction of her mother, allegedly placed the boy in a darkened closet, and withheld food from him. The boy also said Brenna Smith spanked him with a belt and stomped on his feet as a form of punishment, according to court records.

Also at the home of his great-aunt, whom he had been staying with for three months, he was allegedly forced to move rocks from one pile to another.

During earlier police interviews, the child also told police that his mother used handcuffs, along with duct tape, on his ankles to prevent him from "bothering his parents at night." The boy also told police that his parents made him lift weights above his head as punishment for wetting his pants, Ray said last month.

Brown said since the child was abused for so long, there are sure to be long-term effects from the abuse, but there is no way to predict what they will be. Brown equated the abuse to prisoners of war who are tortured.

"Basically he underwent torture," Brown said.

Preliminary hearings for the child's parents, who are being held in Muskogee County on no bond, have been set for Nov. 10.

Ray said last month that Sharon Smith has not been charged in the Muskogee County case because they can not find any evidence that she abused the boy in Muskogee County.

Brown said Thursday that Brenna Smith denied any involvement in the abuse. He said she also claims that her mother didn't do anything wrong either, and the child's parents are the ones responsible.

"She claims they (she and her mother) contacted DHS on numerous occasions about the abuse," Brown said.

Brown said Brenna Smith claims that she and her mother also confronted Melanie and Albert Smith about why they were starving the child. He said Brenna Smith told him that she and her mother fed the boy while he was in their care, but they never saw the bruises on his body because they never bathed him.