RIVERHEAD - A Selden mother pleaded not guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and animal cruelty charges at her arraignment on a grand jury indictment in Riverhead today.

Sharon McDonough faces six charges of endangering the welfare of a child, two felony charges of aggravated cruelty to animals, and five misdemeanor animal cruelty charges.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said the endangering the welfare charges allege the McDonough home on Awixa Place in Selden smelled of feces and urine where “the six young girls in the house were not permitted to use the toilet or shower”. 

“The children in this house lived in terror and unimaginable squalor; conditions that posed a genuine threat to their physical and mental health,” Spota said. 

Count 13 of the indictment alleges the youngest daughter, born in March of 2008, was repeatedly slapped by her mother who was awakened by the infant’s crying.  “According to two of the children, Mrs. McDonough slapped the baby’s back repeatedly while screaming that she would kill the child,” Spota said.

The first (count one) of two felony animal cruelty charges in the indictment alleges Sharon McDonough in June of 2006 strangled a Maltese dog in the presence of her oldest daughter who was approximately 10 years old at the time of the incident.

“The second felony (count two),’ the district attorney explained, “alleges the defendant slammed a cat against a ledge after the cat knocked over flower pot.  Our investigation found evidence she wrapped duct tape around the cat’s nose and mouth and hung the animal from the ladder of her child’s bunk bed, killing the cat.  The defendant’s 11 year old daughter witnessed this cruelty.” 

Several other counts allege similar incidents of extreme animal cruelty

Counts one and two of the indictment are charges of felony aggravated animal cruelty charges under New York State Agriculture and Markets Law punishable upon conviction of a maximum of 2 years.

The remaining cruelty and child endangerment counts are misdemeanors punishable under New York State Sentencing Law to a maximum of two years when sentenced consecutively.