Enid woman accused in cattle prod discipline gets probation

ENID, Okla. (AP) -- A man seeking permanent custody of his 12-year-old daughter said the girl's mother and grandparents should've been punished more severely for shocking her and her brother with

Wednesday, April 7th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ENID, Okla. (AP) -- A man seeking permanent custody of his 12-year-old daughter said the girl's mother and grandparents should've been punished more severely for shocking her and her brother with a cattle prod.

Bertrand Reynolds spoke out after a Garfield County judge on Tuesday sentenced Brenda Frazier to 15 years of probation.

Frazier, 37, pleaded guilty Jan. 22 to permitting child abuse.

Her attorney, Tim Beebe, noted that she didn't pleaded guilty to using the cattle prod on the boy herself.

Prosecutors had sought five years in prison and 10 years of probation afterward for Frazier, but District Judge Ronald Franklin followed a recommendation by a probation officer who completed a pre-sentence report.

Frazier admitted knowing that her father, Johnny Stilwell, had used a cattle prod to discipline her son in 2002.

In the report, Frazier wrote, "I did not do it," and said she disciplined her son by either having him stand in the corner, sit at a desk or by locking him in his room.

Stilwell and wife Ladonna Stilwell received terms similar to their daughter's after they pleaded guilty to child abuse charges.

Neither Frazier nor the Stilwells could immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Authorities began investigating the family in November 2002 after Frazier's son told a Department of Human Services case worker he'd been shocked with a cattle prod, according to court documents.

Then 11, the boy said all three relatives used cattle prods on him and his sister, the affidavit states.

The children no longer live with their mother and her parents, and a condition of Frazier's probation bars her from supervising any children or being involved in home-schooling children.

The girl's father said he's disappointed Frazier and her parents didn't get prison time.

"It's the same slap on the wrist," Reynolds said.

Reynolds said his daughter had hoped Frazier would be sentenced to a year or two in jail so she would be able to feel what it was like to live at her parents farm.

The girl is terrified that she may have to live with her mother again, said Reynolds.

Beebe said Frazier isn't a danger to anyone because there are no children living in her household.