CAMDEN – Three women from Stratford accused of forcing a girl to wear a dog collar have been ordered to stop their childcare business.
“You shouldn’t have a babysitter,” Supreme Court Justice Michelle Fox said Wednesday, listing several conditions for the release of women from Camden County Jail.
Women – Kelly Menig, 42; Rebecca Menig, 22; and Rachel Menigg, 20, are charged with aggravated assault and other misconduct in connection with alleged abuse of a 13-year-old family member, identified as I.D.
Menigi, who denies any wrongdoing, was arrested after ID ran into a neighbor’s house on March 1, holding a dog collar and saying she was forced to wear it.
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The girl, who had scars on her neck, was crying and “visibly shocked and frightened,” said Kamden County Assistant District Attorney Karl Fabryza at a detention hearing on Wednesday.
A neighbor told police, “that the collar is still being activated,” Fabrici said. “She saw him physically vibrate when ID held him.”
Kelly and Rachel Menig told police the ID lied and the girl removed the collar from the dog. The women “insisted that ID put the collar on herself, saying she had behavioral problems,” Fabrici said.
Rachel Menig said that “she pressed the button on the remote control of the collar because she was looking for the collar itself,” the prosecutor added.
At separate hearings for each Factory woman said child abuse included denial of food and clothing as well as imprisonment in the bedroom.
A family member also told investigators that the girl was often put in the basement so as not to disrupt the Manigs business by a nanny who worked at their home from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This relative, Richard Fowler, said that “Kelly once asked him to stick identification tape to the support beam in the basement, and he complied,” added Factory.
Lawyer Kelly Menig challenged the girl’s authority.
“There are documented cases … that confirm that ID is not always the best historian; there are significant questions about its veracity, ”said attorney Christopher St. John.
He said that the two teachers of the girl “received special instructions not to pass too much information from the ID, because the ID can be” false “and” distort the words of people. “
And while Factory noted that the ID weighed only 63 pounds, St. John remarked, “Nothing the doctor testified about the ID’s malnutrition.”
“We recognize that sometimes the IDF is forbidden to snack on sweets and sugar because it affects it,” St. John said.
But, he continued, “There is no food in the house closed.”
He also said that the staff of the State Department for Child Protection and Permanence “have been quite widely involved in the family for many years and have not noted any problems and have not conducted any investigations.”
“In fact, it was the DCPP that asked Kelly (Menig) to accept the ID (as her adopted daughter) when, unfortunately, ID’s parents died,” the lawyer said.
The factory, however, argued that the social service investigation was not comparable to the work of the prosecutor’s office.
She said detectives found physical evidence and witnesses corroborating the girl’s allegations, including a school friend who said the ID told her of the alleged abuse.
Factory noted that Fowler, who is the father of Kelly Menig, said that “all three – my daughter and two eldest granddaughters” – put on ID
He also suggested that on the day the ID ran to a neighbor, “probably put on a collar too tight.”
“He said it usually leaves no traces on the ID,” Factory continued.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the bullying started when she was 9 years old in the fourth grade. The charges against Menigs cover the period from October 2018 to March 1 this year.
Each of the women is also accused of endangering the child’s well-being and neglect.
Charges are just charges. No one has been convicted in the case.
Releaseing the women from Camden County Jail, Fox noted that the DCPP removed the ID card from the family home on the 100th block of Harvard Avenue.
Among other conditions, she ordered each woman to find a separate home and avoid discussing their case with each other or with witnesses.
“Obviously, this is a child with many problems,” the judge said during the hearing, which lasted more than 90 minutes.
But she also noted that “the allegations in this case are extremely alarming.”
Jim Walsh covers state security, economic development and other articles for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.
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