3 counts of malicious

punishment of a child

BROWN COUNTY — A 32-year-old Sleepy Eye woman faces five felony aand gross misdemeanor counts and three counts of malicious punishment of a child in Brown County District Court.

The charges were filed in Fifth Judicial District Court Tuesday against Stephanie A. Fromm, 32, 24262 340th Ave., Sleepy Eye.

According to court documents, a Brown County Sheriff’s Office investigator received a child protection intake summary from Brown County Human Services before interviewing three juveniles.

One said on Sept. 11, two of the juveniles got in trouble and her father and stepmother, Fromm, made her run up and down the basement stairs until her legs got so tired she nearly fell. In addition, she had to sleep on a concrete basement floor, take cold showers with her underwear on, then lie on the cold concrete floor without drying off. She had to change positions often so she would not get warm.

One of the children said about two weeks ago, Fromm told the kids that their father threatened to kill all three of them for the sake of his and Fromm’s marriage but that Fromm stopped him.

In addition, a child said shortly before school began last month, Fromm told them to run up and down the driveway as punishment for misbehaving. She said her step siblings rode next to them on the driveway. When they slowed down, they would run into their legs with their bicycles. The child said on the night they had to run the driveway, they did not get to eat supper.

One of the children said family relationships deteriorated a couple of years ago and the discipline behaviors began happening over the past two years. In addition, the child said he would not feel safe at home and began crying. He collaborateda sibling’s statements, saying Fromm told him that his father once said he would shoot and kill his kids to make his marriage better, according to what Fromm said.

Fromm was summoned to appear in court at 8:30 a.m., Oct. 9.