Cameron Might Be Sent to Prison for Year
ST. PAUL (April 9) - A St. Paul woman could be sent to prison for a year after pleading guilty to disciplining her 11-year-old daughter by keeping her locked for days in a dog kennel.
Deborah L. Cameron, 34, told the judge Friday in Ramsey County District Court that she was desperate. She had initially pleaded not guilty.
The daughter "was sneaking out and getting into lots of trouble, getting herself into dangerous situations," Cameron said in court. She didn't elaborate on those situations.
Cameron, who kept her daughter in the kennel for three days, pleaded guilty to one count of unreasonable restraint of a child. A second count, alleging that she'd done the same thing to the girl another time, was dropped.
District Judge Kathleen Gearin asked Cameron if she now believed her actions were reasonable.
"No. But I was desperate and didn't have any resources," Cameron said.
Cameron and her boyfriend, Eric Bare, 41 - who is charged with two counts of unreasonable restraint of a child - were arrested in February.
A family member is reportedly caring for the child, who is 13. Gearin gave Cameron permission to attend counseling with the daughter but forbade her from spending time alone with the child.
Cameron faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison when she is sentenced June 1. She agreed to testify truthfully in the case against Bare, who pleaded not guilty and was scheduled to have a pretrial hearing later this month.
Cameron said it was Bare's idea to keep the girl in the chain-link dog pen, which measured 12-feet long, 3-feet wide and 6-feet tall. It was in a basement music studio, next door to the couple's duplex on Snelling Avenue.
Cameron said she stayed with the girl overnight, sitting in a nearby chair. The girl slept on two van benches in the kennel. The kennel was placed over a drain in case the girl needed to go to the bathroom, Cameron said.
04/09/05 18:50 EDT
