A Portland-area mother has been sentenced to 30 days in jail over a 2021 incident involving waterboarding her baby.
Sharday McDonald, 30, allegedly admitted that she waterboarded her child "out of spite" as a "test" to see if the father "gave a f*** at all" about the baby.
McDonald additionally put the baby in the freezer.
Fortunately, the baby didn't sustain any injuries from the incident.
Police were called to McDonald’s home in Oct. 2021 to perform a welfare check after getting a report of a "mom putting her baby in the freezer," according to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by Inside Edition.
The affidavit shows that when an officer arrived, he heard McDonald yelling to someone on the phone -- ultimately identified as the child’s father -- "I'm about to show you real quick. You don't want him?... Let me show you about this little f****** baby, I don't f****** give a f*** about."
When the officer knocked on the door, the yelling stopped and McDonald answered the door "holding a child wrapped in a blanket," according to the affidavit.
"McDonald told the officer that she was not trying to hurt harm or kill her son... by drowning him or putting him in the freezer," the affidavit says.
While the officer was still at the scene, the child's father arrived and provided screenshots from a video call he allegedly had with McDonald. The pictures showed McDonald holding the baby "by his onesie" and waterboarding him.
In one photo, the officer said it looked like the baby was trying to hold his breath as water was pouring over his face, Inside Edition reporter. Another photo allegedly showed McDonald holding the baby at a downward angle "where his hip, legs, and feet were higher than his head (almost upside down) with water running over his face. The only place the water could go (in that picture) was in his nose," the officer said, per the report.
McDonald was placed under arrest and during the drive to the police station, she allegedly told the officer she did these things "out of spite" to see if the child’s father "gave a f*** at all" and to get him to come back to her apartment, KPTV reported.
McDonald was charged with criminal mistreatment and recklessly endangering another person. At some point, an additional 13 counts of identity theft and tampering with a witness were added to McDonald's charges from an unrelated case, Inside Edition reported.
She ultimately pleaded guilty to criminal mistreatment and tampering with a witness, and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, according to court records. She's due to be released on Oct. 6.