Barbara Rissler, 68, of Gans was charged Friday with child abuse by injury, court records indicate. If convicted she faces up to life in prison or not more than a year in county jail, as well as up to a $5,000 fine.
Sequoyah County Sheriff's Deputy Cindy Smith received a report from Deputy Travis Gabbert on June 26 in reference to allegations of child abuse and a runaway juvenile.
Gabbert said he had received a call from Rissler about the runaway juvenile. The juvenile, a 14-year-old girl, had been living with Rissler at her home in the Gans area. Rissler told Gabbert that she was the girl's legal guardian.
Smith spoke with the girl at the department on June 26. The girl said she and Rissler had been feeding the livestock at Rissler's home when she had made a mistake feeding the livestock. Rissler punished her by giving her a spanking with an extension cord, which was doubled up.
Smith observed two raised marks, red in color, which appeared to have a looping pattern, on the girl's buttocks. The girl told Smith that Rissler had spanked her with a rope, and had spanked her with a cutting board on more than one occasion.
The girl had three bruises on her lower left buttocks from a previous spanking, Smith reported.
The girl explained that she had been living with her mother in Jay when she was sexually assaulted by her step-father. The courts had refused to allow her to stay in the home and her mother did not leave the step-father's home. Her mother then asked Rissler to raise the girl and become her legal guardian.
On June 26 Smith spoke with Rissler, who told Smith that she had made it clear to the girl that she must be obedient or would suffer the consequences.
Rissler said the girl did well for a while, but then became disobedient. Rissler told Smith that in the recent past, she had disciplined the girl by requiring her to sleep on the floor next to Rissler's bed. She said the child had "lost her freedom."
On June 26 the girl became upset while feeding livestock, Rissler explained. Rissler said she told the girl she was not going to visit her father as punishment for improperly feeding the livestock and then she spanked her with a doubled up extension cord.
The girl became upset and left the home. Rissler said she became worried and called the sheriff's department to report her as a runaway.
When asked if she ever spanked the girl with anything else, Rissler admitted to spanking the girl with a small rope and cutting board.
When asked if she paddled the girl above or beneath her clothing, Rissler said both. When asked if she saw any problems with spanking the girl with an extension cord or rope, Rissler said no and she felt if a child was disobedient they needed to be punished. She said she spanked the girl with the first thing she grabbed.
The juvenile was transported to a juvenile shelter in Poteau.
