Spirit Lake woman gets jail for child abuse

COEUR d’ALENE — A woman convicted of “monstrous” mistreatment of a child will spend about seven months in jail.

Last month, a jury convicted Monica E. Schug, 37, of Spirit Lake, on three counts of injury to a child, all misdemeanors.

In Idaho, injury to a child can be a misdemeanor or a felony offense. If the circumstances are unlikely to “produce great bodily harm or death,” the crime is generally a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.

Judge Clark Peterson sentenced Schug on Tuesday to 180 days in jail on each charge, with five days’ credit for time served and 155 days suspended on the second and third charges.

That means Schug is expected to serve 215 days in jail, after which she will be placed on supervised probation for two years.

The charges stem from January, when Schug’s former husband, 37-year-old Matthew M. Schug, received a 20-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child. He will be eligible for parole in about a decade.

Spirit Lake police said Monica Schug physically abused the same child.

She also inflicted psychological abuse on the child, prosecutors said, by repeatedly blaming the child for Matthew Schug’s abuse.

Police arrested Schug in April.

Though she was not a party to the sexual abuse, Peterson said during sentencing that Monica Schug became a “second abuser” to the child through her actions.

“The behaviors of Ms. Schug are monstrous,” Peterson said. “It is not a slip or a misspeak. It is a mindset.”

When Schug addressed the court, she described her “embarrassment” and the impact the case has had on her life.

“That was troubling to me,” Peterson said. “You did not articulate regard for (the victim). Instead, you talked about what you are being deprived of.”

Everyone in Idaho is required to report child abuse, neglect or abandonment. This includes private citizens.

To report suspected child abuse, neglect or abandonment, call the statewide hotline: 855-552-5437.

Callers can remain anonymous.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or sexual abuse, call Safe Passage Violence Prevention Center’s 24-hour hotline: 208-664-9303.