ST. CROIX MOM HELD WITHOUT BAIL: beating with pipe and rod over school absences

A St. Croix mother faces multiple felony domestic violence charges after police say she violently assaulted her 15-year-old daughter over truancy, then forced the girl's older sister to cut off her hair as punishment.

Wendy R. Freeman was taken into custody at her workplace Wednesday afternoon and held at the John A. Bell Adult Correctional Facility without bail. She appeared before Magistrate Judge Yolan C. Brow Ross in Superior Court.

According to a police probable cause statement, the attack happened Tuesday evening after Freeman came home from work around 5:00 p.m. A school guidance counselor had telephoned Freeman that day about her daughter missing classes. When the teenager tried to explain her absences, Freeman rejected the explanation as invalid and ordered her to the master bedroom.

There, Freeman used a hard PVC pipe with three drilled holes to strike the girl across her legs, back, shoulders and arms. The pipe fractured three times during the assault. Freeman then grabbed a long metal curtain rod and continued hitting her daughter as the teen ran to the living room.

The girl's 13-year-old brother witnessed the attack and moved quickly. He wrapped his arms around Freeman from behind in a bear hug to restrain her, pinning her arms. He released his grip only after feeling Freeman attempt to bite him. Freeman then forced him out of the house.

While the boy stood outside, Freeman directed her adult daughter, Michelle Elliott, to give the injured teen scissors and make her kneel. The girl was forced to cut her own hair, destroying locs she had grown for two years. Elliott, a professional hair stylist, later trimmed the damaged sections into a short afro, saying she felt troubled by the result. Police said Freeman's aim was to "patch up" the girl's locs to make her appear disfigured and cause public shame.

The teen cleaned her bleeding welts and forearm cuts with hydrogen peroxide before going to bed. She reported the injuries to school security the next morning, where a guidance counselor documented visible cuts, welts and bruises across her shoulder, arms, wrists and thigh.

Freeman was charged with Felony Child Abuse, Third-Degree Assault and Battery with Domestic Violence, Aggravated Assault and Battery with Domestic Violence, and Simple Assault and Battery with Domestic Violence. She has no previous criminal record and declined to speak with police after being informed of her rights.