Portales woman faces charges of abuse

PORTALES -- A Portales woman is due in court Wednesday to face charges of child abuse, neglect, and animal cruelty in a case that District Attorney Brian Stover terms “extreme.”

Sharman Eminger, 53, faces a third-degree felony charge of abuse of a child, a misdemeanor charge of abandonment of a child, and nine charges of cruelty to animals.

A woman who said she was Eminger declined to respond to questions on Thursday. She is being represented by Portales attorney Sandra Gallagher who did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Police began looking into the case the night of April 26 when they were called to a residence on East First Street to investigate a theft involving a female juvenile suspect.

The officer recognized the girl, an 8-year-old, from previous “law enforcement encounters” and knew where she lived, records show.

At the home the officer spoke with Eminger, the child’s adoptive mother, who told the officer that she didn’t know where the child was and that the girl had run away “again” from the home.

According to court records:

Eminger told police she was “trying to give [the child] ‘her space’ and had stopped attempting to look for her.” Eminger also told police the child sometimes returns home without her knowledge.

Police asked Eminger if they might search her house. She told police her house was in a “chaotic state” from a recent flood.

Inside the home officers encountered another child, a 10-year-old boy.

Police saw “copious amounts of garbage” piled along the walls of the home and there was an odor of dog urine and feces inside the residence that could also be smelled outside the house.

Officers saw two small, skinny dogs in a cage, garbage on the kitchen floor and counters, mice running on the counters and floor and what was believed to be mold on the kitchen walls. Police saw dust-covered canned goods in an open pantry along with scattered rodent feces.

While going through Eminger’s home officers agreed the state Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) should be called as they believed the children in the home were being neglected.

Officers located the female child at a convenience store on South Avenue D.

The two children were taken into custody by Portales police based on living conditions in the home, Eminger’s lack of knowledge of the whereabouts of the 8-year-old and failure to report a runaway.

Eminger was released by Judge Christopher Mitchell April 28 on her own recognizance, records show.