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OGDEN — An Ogden woman is facing a criminal charge accusing her of beating her 13-year-old stepdaughter with a pan and forcing her to live in a makeshift room for a year as punishment.
Danyale Lee Merriman, 36, was charged in 2nd District Court Monday with aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. She was arrested last week.
The abuse was reported through the girl's junior high school.
Investigators say Merriman beat the young teen with a cooking pan, and threw the glass lid at her, causing bruising on the girl's legs, according to charging documents.
The stepmother also forced the girl to live "in a makeshift room in the basement as punishment, which has been ongoing for approximately one year," and she was "not allowed to use the bathroom freely in the home and is forced to urinate into a cup," a police booking affidavit states.
The girl had previously been forced to live alone in an RV on the property and was subjected to verbal abuse, "food discipline" and "forced to stand or do wall sits in the corner of the home for hours on end," according to charging documents.
Four children lived with Merriman, and all have been removed from the home by the Department of Child and Family Services, police say.
Merriman admitted to throwing a glass pot lid at the girl, and "described how the victim cowered away from the thrown object," according to the charges.
