A New Mexico woman pleaded guilty on Monday for leaving her 8-year-old niece with developmental disabilities locked up in a wooden cage while she left to watch a movie, the Associated Press reported.
Cindy Patriarchias, 33, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony child abuse, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. Four related charges were dropped by the prosecutors under the plea agreement.
According to the AP, Patriarchias told 3rd Judicial District Judge Fernando Macias in Las Cruces that the incident was "the biggest and worst mistake of my life."
Patriarchias and her boyfriend, Edmond Gonzales, took her three children to an elementary school in January to watch a movie, said the police.
Patriarchias' estranged husband called police when he arrived at the school and learned that the 8-year-old girl was unattended at the secluded home, the AP reported.
Facing a maximum of six years in prison, Patriarchias'attorney has asked for a deferred sentence. As prosecutors are looking for some prison time, she is scheduled to be sentenced in March.
Patriarchias made a mistake, said attorney Peter Giovannini.
"The cage is not the issue," he said. "The issue is a lapse in judgment."
The girl was discovered to be inside a large homemade wooden cage in the corner of a bedroom by the officers. The cage had two latches on the door, a baby crib's mattress inside and was about 2 1/2 feet wide and 4 feet tall, police said in a statement.
Patriarchias "crossed the line" and what started as a modified bed for the child "turned into a prison cell," prosecutor Paul Rubino said Monday.
There were no physical injuries on the girl, police said. The girl suffers from microcephaly - a condition that gives people an abnormally small head.
Patriarchias had been trying to adopt the girl but hadn't been able to reach the girl's birth mother to get her consent at the time she was discovered in a cage, said a police spokesman.
Gonzales also pleaded guilty to negligently permitting child abuse, a third-degree felony. He has been sentenced to three years in probation, the AP reported.
