Mom accused of abusing 14-year-old daughter who ran away is freed pending trial – nj.com

The East Orange mother accused of child abuse after her 14-year-old daughter ran away from home for a month was ordered released from the Essex County jail following a detention hearing held in Newark Tuesday.

Jamie A. Moore, 40, was ordered to have no contact with either her daughter, or her 3-year-old son as a condition of her release. Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin ordered Moore to be confined to home detention with an electronic bracelet while she awaits her next court appearance scheduled for Dec. 20.

Ravin was clearly troubled by what he termed the “morally outrageous” nature of the allegations against Moore, who is accused of numerous acts of violent abuse against her daughter. Authorities said the abuse led the teen to run away from her East Orange home on Oct. 14.

Moore did not speak during the hearing upon the advice of her attorney, Durann Neil Jr.

Moore joined with friends, relatives and police in a search that made national headlines after her daughter went missing for nearly a month. Authorities say the girl lived at several locations in New Jersey before going to New York, where she was living in a Brooklyn shelter before she was found.

After talking to the girl, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office charged Moore with two counts of child endangerment, accusing the mother a series of violent attacks over several years that included striking the girl with a frying pan, stabbing her in the shoulder with a steak knife, pouring bleach in her eyes and pulling the braids out of her hair. The girl and her 3-year-old brother are in the custody of the state.

Assistant Prosecutor Jesse Stalnaker argued at the detention hearing that Moore was a flight risk given the seriousness of the charges. Both counts are second-degree offenses with potential prison terms of five to 10 years if she is convicted.

Stalnaker said the mother kept the girl from enrolling in school so she could take care of her brother, while Moore “was in the bedroom watching TV or sleeping.”

Stalnaker said that on the morning the 14-year-old girl disappeared, Moore had sent her daughter to the convenience store. When the teen returned home, she told her mother she’d lost a debit card, Stalnaker said.

Moore delivered an ultimatum to her daughter: “If you don’t find that card, don’t come home,” Stalnaker said.

Neil argued that Moore was being treated for cancer and needed her daughter to help care for her and the little boy.

“They laid out a bunch of allegations that are unproven,” Neil said of the charges.

He said Moore will abide by the judge’s no contact order and would not interfere with the investigation.

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