Mom Who Allegedly Kept Daughter in Cage, Threatened to Slit Her Throat Claims She's the Victim

The child, who has not been publicly identified, says her mother Sheila Mann, 31, locked her in a dog cage tied shut with twine for two to three days.

She further claimed that she was only allowed out to use the restroom, per Richmond, Kentucky authorities. The alleged victim told police she attempted to escape multiple times but was unsuccessful.

Mann is also accused of tying her daughter's hands with twine after sitting on her back for several minutes while she was face down on the kitchen floor, per WDKY, as well as at least one incident where she allegedly "came into their bedroom, placed both hands around their neck, and strangled them for a brief period of time."

The child claimed that her throat was sore for a few days afterward and her breathing was impaired.

According to the criminal complaint, the child claims there were multiple instances of abuse from January to March 2024. Mann, who was arrested June 3 and booked into the Madison County Detention Center, denies all of it.

"That's not true at all," she told WKYT from jail. "I have never done anything like that. I have always had a job with caretaking." According to Mann, it all stems from a misunderstanding and situation in Georgetown where she was the actual victim.

"It’s a defamation of my character for sure and as a mother," she told WDKY. "My daughter has never had any kind of marks, any kind of anything like that on her. She is my only child, and she is my anchor to this world, and she-- I would never do something like that."

Mann has been charged with first-degree strangulation, three counts of first-degree criminal child abuse, two counts of first-degree unlawful imprisonment, two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, and third-degree terroristic threatening.