By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Stillwater woman avoided a jury trial in July by pleading no contest to caretaker abuse for which she was placed on five years of probation with an order to have an anger management course and a mental health evaluation, as well as follow any recommended treatment.
Amber Jean McDuffie, 41, was also ordered by District Judge Phillip Corley to have a DNA test, pay a $250 fine and contribute $150 to the victims’ compensation fund, along with paying court costs, records show.
McDuffie, who was arrested on Feb. 9, 2019, and freed on $10,000 bond, had been accused of abusing a 14-year-old girl at a home operated by Sequoyah Enterprises Inc. (SEI), a private contractor with a contract with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to house juveniles in DHS custody.
The girl had been diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD, with a full-scale IQ of 48, according to an affidavit by Stillwater Police Investigator Kyle Bruce.
“On June 12, 2018, McDuffie along with other SEI staff personnel took (the girl) and other juveniles from the SEI home to the Oklahoma City Science Museum. They returned to Stillwater at 3 pm on that date and McDuffie was finished with her shift.
“Sometime after 3 pm, another SEI staff member heard McDuffie yelling for assistance inside one of the SEI cottages. When the worker entered the cottage, she heard (the girl) yelling at McDuffie, ‘You’re hurting me.’
“She observed McDuffie picking up (the girl) from the floor by her legs. The staff member immediately called for additional assistance from a second staff member,” who is the facilities’ training specialist, the investigator alleged in his affidavit.
“When he arrived in the cottage, he observed McDuffie standing over (the girl) with her hands around (the girl’s) neck. The training specialist observed McDuffie’s thumbs in the center of (the girl’s) throat with each hand wrapped around the side of the neck,” the affidavit alleged.
“McDuffie was told to release (the girl’s) neck. Once (the girl) was released, her face was red in color and she was coughing. McDuffie was removed from the cottage,” the affidavit alleged.
The girl “had scratches on her neck and her back caused by McDuffie,” the affidavit alleged. “It is not known why McDuffie was attempting to restrain (the girl) or why she was strangling her,” the affidavit alleged.
“McDuffie was talked to by the SEI on-site director. McDuffie denied choking” the girl, the affidavit alleged.
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