Police say a teenager in New Jersey was forced to wear a shock collar meant for dogs as a form of punishment in a horrible case of alleged child abuse.
Three women have been arrested and charged with aggravated assault, child abuse and neglect after allegedly forcing a 13-year-old girl, identified in the arrest warrant only by her initials "I.D.," to wear the collar when she was "bad."
Authorities first become aware of the incident when a neighbor called the police on March 1 after a girl showed up on her doorstep with the shock collar. Upon arrival, officers observed that the child had a "marking on her neck consistent with wearing the collar," according to the affidavit.
Neighbor Karen Villec said she heard her doorbell ring numerous times before she opened the door and saw the 13-year-old girl standing there with a shock collar. She brought her inside while her husband called 911, WPVI-TV reported.
"I open the door and she hands me this dog collar. And I go, 'Is your dog loose?' She said, 'No, they shocked me! They shocked me!' And she put up her neck and I saw the two marks from the dog collar," said Villec, adding that the collar was vibrating as she was holding it, according to WPVI. The teenager was taken to Jefferson Hospital in Stratford, New Jersey, for treatment, and the Division of Child Protection and Permanency removed her from the home.
The following day, Kelly, Rebecca and Rachel Mennig were arrested and charged in connection to the alleged child abuse and neglect, police documents showed. The three suspects are being held in Camden County Correctional Facility.
Police say I.D. had been forced to wear an electric shock collar since she was 9 years old. When police interviewed her, she told them Rachel, 20, "put the collar around her neck and shocked her multiple times and had done this in the past," according to the affidavit.
According to the documents, I.D. gave detailed accounts to police regarding when Kelly, 42, and Rebecca, 22, used the shock collar as a form of punishment. The teenager also said she had been deprived of the proper amounts of food and clothing.
A witness who lives in the residence where the alleged abuse happened told police what they saw happen to I.D. That individual told police they observed the collar being used as punishment "numerous times" in the past and saw her deprived of food and amenities.
When police interviewed Kelly, she said she had no idea I.D. had a shock collar around her neck or that she ran away from the home. All three women have denied the allegations of abuse and neglect, according to the document.
The Mennigs will make their first court appearance on Friday at 9 a.m., according to Andrew Kramer, the spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
The Camden County Prosecutor's Office provided the filings to Newsweek and requested that the exact relationships between I.D. and the suspects not be disclosed in hopes of protecting the minor's identity.
Update 3/8/22, 5:10 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information from the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.
