MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ohio (TCN) — A 35-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to several charges in connection with the abuse of her 10-year-old daughter and several other children in the home.
According to a press release from Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr., the investigation into Heather Pippen and her boyfriend, 40-year-old Stephanas Golden, began on April 18 after the Dayton Police Department received a call requesting a welfare check. A 15-year-old girl sent videos to her father, who did not live at that residence, showing child abuse. Responding officers referred the case to Montgomery County Children’s services.
According to the county prosecutor, police received a tip the next day that a video was posted to social media showing the abuse of a preteen girl in the home. According to the Dayton Daily News, the video showed a 10-year-old girl allegedly being hit with a belt by Golden while he sat on her.
Police responded to the residence a second time and took Pippen and Golden into custody. Seven children, ranging in age from 7 to 15, were found inside the home, and all showed signs of abuse. Heck called it “brutal and sadistic” and “some of the worst mental and physical abuse I have seen.” Fourteen dogs and 18 chickens were also removed from the home.
According to the Dayton Daily News, five of the seven children in the home were Pippen’s and two were her niece and nephew. All were homeschooled. The oldest child, who had reported the abuse to her father, told police the abuse had been going on for a long time and that she had been documenting it with photos and videos.
Golden allegedly broke his leg while resisting arrest, per the Dayton Daily News.
On May 8, Pippen was indicted on seven counts of child endangerment, two counts of strangulation, and one count of resisting arrest, and Golden was indicted on two counts of endangering children, one count of strangulation, and one count of obstructing official business, according to the county prosecutor.
Pippen pleaded guilty on Sept. 9 to two counts of endangering children, one count of strangulation, and one count of obstructing official business, and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 25. Golden entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity on Sept. 9, according to the Dayton Daily News.
WHKO reports Judge Gerald Parker ordered a mental evaluation for Golden and to have those findings included in a report. He said he would have a determination of those findings by Nov. 5.
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