POCATELLO — An arrest warrant has been issued and the pretrial release has been revoked for a former live-in nanny accused of forcing a 13-year-old girl to smoke marijuana and methamphetamine, court records say.
Twice in the last two months, Wanda May Mansfield, 34, of Pocatello, failed to appear for sentencing hearings at the Bannock County Courthouse after she pleaded guilty in May to one count of felony injury to a child as part of a plea agreement with local prosecutors.
The non-binding plea agreement involved Mansfield pleading guilty to the felony injury to a child charge in exchange for prosecutors dismissing one count of felony possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine. Mansfield was criminally charged in April following a Pocatello Police and Child Protective Services investigation, court records say.
The plea agreement included terms that prosecutors recommend probation for Mansfield. Further, it included a term that allowed prosecutors to alter the agreement if Mansfield failed to attend any scheduled hearings or comply with any court order, specifically an order she submit to random drug and alcohol testing as part of her pretrial release from the Bannock County Jail following her arrest in April. Mansfield was arrested on April 7 and released from jail on April 12.
A Bannock County pretrial release officer on June 29 submitted an affidavit in support of a violation to Mansfield’s pretrial release, alleging that she was unable to provide a drug test sample beginning just four days after her release from jail. Additionally, Mansfield failed to show up for testing on April 23, and three times in June, according to the affidavit. She also failed to consistently call into the testing phone line daily as required, the affidavit says.
On June 30, Mansfield’s pretrial release was revoked and a warrant was issued for her arrest. Bannock County Prosecutor Steve Herzog says his office has not decided whether or not to withdraw its plea agreement with Mansfield for failing to comply with the court-ordered testing and missing the two sentencing hearings.
In addition to allegedly forcing the underage girl to smoke marijuana and meth, Mansfield is accused of telling the girl how to hide the drug use from her father and encouraging her to use his bank card without permission, according to court records.
When police searched Mansfield’s room in the Pocatello home where she was a nanny, they located meth, marijuana, and numerous items of drug paraphernalia, including several bongs, pipes and containers with drug residue.
The maximum penalty for the felony injury to a child charge Mansfield faces is no less than one and up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000. The maximum penalty for possession of a controlled substance, meth, is up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.
There are no upcoming hearings scheduled for Mansfield pending a return of the arrest warrant against her.