Charges: Fridley Couple Made Girl Run In Diaper With Shaved Head
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A Fridley couple is accused of shaving a girl's head and making her run down a street in a diaper as punishment for having bad grades at school, according to charges filed Wednesday in Anoka County Court.
Stephanie Ann Broten, 38 and Darnell Alan Landrum,34, both of Fridley, were each charged with county of malicious punishment of a child in connection with the incident.
According to a criminal complaint, Fridley Police were called at about 7:16 p.m. Monday to a townhome on 68th Avenue on a report of a juvenile female with her head shaved being forced to run outside while wearing a diaper.
The 12-year-old girl was observed standing outside for more than 30 minutes wearing a diaper and tank top. The girl's mother, identified as Broten, told police she was being disciplined for getting an "F" on her report card and that Broten and her husband, Landrum, had shaved her head.
When authorities arrived, the girl was crying hysterically as she was among 30 to 50 teenage and young adult men who had gathered to watch her outside, the complaint states. Her mother, Broten, told police she was disciplining her child by embarrassing her. Landrum said he had warned the girl that is she didn't start listening in school and getting better grades, she would be forced to wear a diaper and have her head shaved.
When the girl didn't bring her homework home with her, Landrum told her he would be shaving her head and putting her on "diaper duty," according to the complaint.
If Broten and Landrum are convicted of the charges, they each face up to a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.
