Mom who taped son to wall sentenced to 9 months
A Reynoldsburg woman who taped her 2-year-old son to the wall while doing housework was sentenced Friday to nine months in prison.
Shayla D. Rudolph, 19, pleaded guilty last month to attempted child endangering.
She had been indicted on more-serious charges of child endangering and abduction but admitted to a lesser felony as part of a plea agreement. Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Kim Brown could have given Rudolph probation rather than prison but chose the nine-month sentence after reviewing a presentencing investigation report.
Rudolph’s interview as part of the investigation revealed that she “sees nothing wrong with what she’s done,” Assistant Prosecutor Kacey Chappelear told the judge. “She has a delusion that (the boy) wasn’t scared or hurt.”
Rudolph live-streamed video of the incident, which occurred Jan. 1 at a home on Lanercost Road. The 15-minute video shows the child taped to the wall, arms extended and with tape over his mouth.
The boy was “crying and hysterical,” said Chappelear, who recommended prison time.
Rudolph apologized during the hearing and said she understands that what she did was wrong.
An anonymous tipster supplied a copy of the video to a local TV station, which contacted police.
“You’re got the best mommy in the whole world,” Rudolph can be heard telling the boy on the video. “Don’t make me put more tape up there. Now sit still. You can see the TV from right there.
“You can’t clean without them running around, tearing up? Tape them to the wall. You can’t cook or none of that because they’re running around? Tape them to the wall.”