GRAND FORKS - When Tamara Voll hit her stepson with a broomstick about the Red River High School student's head and shoulders last spring for not cleaning the house, she committed felony abuse of a child, prosecutors say.
After rejecting a plea offer from prosecutors, Voll, 47, was slated Thursday by a judge to go to trial Jan. 14. If convicted, she would face up to five years in prison.
After the May 19 incident at their home, Voll was arrested and ordered to have no contact with her stepson. She is out on bond and living now in East Grand Forks, Minn.
According to the police affidavit, the stepson called police May 20 to report that his stepmother had "hit him several times with a broom handle," over his upper back and shoulder area and the top of his head during an argument the previous evening. It was because he hadn't cleaned the house like she had told him, he said.
Officer Justin Holweger said in the affidavit that during an interview in her home, Voll stated that she did strike her stepson with a broom handle.
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Citing state law, Grand Forks prosecutors charged her with a Class C felony, alleging Voll "willfully inflicted bodily injury."
