Court date set for dad accused of chaining 11-year-old daughter to bed for "getting into food" and stuff (Sharp County, Arkansas)

Wow. Dad MICHAEL GILMAN just can't figure it out. Why would his 11-year-old daughter do just terrible things like, hmm, like "getting into food?" Here's a guess. Maybe she's hungry? As for trying to escape from the house at night.... Could it be, just maybe, because Daddy runs this home like some kind of sadistic prison camp?

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/article/198036/2/Court-date-set-for-Michael-Gilman-accused-of-chaining-daughter-to-bed-for-5-weeks


Court date set for Michael Gilman accused of chaining daughter to bed for 5 weeks

8:30 PM, Feb 24, 2012

Written by Jessica Johnson


SHARP COUNTY, AR (KAIT) - A father accused of chaining his daughter to a bed for five weeks with a dog leash and a short piece of chain had his court date set.

According to the Sharp County Circuit Clerk's Office, 47-year-old Michael Gilman will appear in court on March 14.

According to Sharp County Sheriff Mark Counts, Michael Gilman was charged with false imprisonment and first degree endangering the welfare of a minor after officers found the 11-year-old girl chained to her bed by her ankle. Counts also says her 15-year-old sister released her as soon as officers arrived.

"Some of the behavior of this child, the family is claiming they can't control, and a lot of what they did was for her safety," Det. Sgt. Ken Guidry said. "However, chaining a child to a bed, we just can't have that."

Guidry says investigating officers say her father felt this was the solution to the 11-year-old getting up in the middle of the night and getting into food, other people's belongings, and sometimes going door-to-door in the neighborhood. They say he explained that he started chaining her up at night just before the first of the month to prevent her from getting into to trouble and that the girl was to be released when everyone got up in the morning.

"They claim that all the other remedies that they've tried, such as getting help through (the Department of Human Services) and other services, have failed," Guidry said, "and they can't afford a baby sitter so that was their solution."

When asked if he didn't think there was an alternative to control his daughter, Gilman said he had tried everything else and had been trying to deal with the problem for the past three years.

Police say three children were in the family-the 11- and 15-year-old girls, who were home schooled, and a 6-year-old boy, who was attending public school.

Counts says all three children were taken into the care of social services.

Gilman's bond was set at $1,000 by Judge Mark Johnson, but he bonded out Monday February 20. The children's mother was in the state of New York assisting her stepdaughter for unknown reasons.