MILFORD, PA — A foster mother has been charged with multiple counts after she allegedly hit, bit and otherwise abused her 15-year-old daughter.

Pike County District Attorney Raymond J. Tonkin says that in December last year, the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) were called and told that the girl was missing. When they went to the house in Greentown, they discovered a bedroom that contained no furniture, and instead was outfitted with a plastic sheet that covered the entire room. There was also a camera mounted on the wall, and the room contained an alarm system the sounded whenever the girl opened the door to her bedroom.

The girl was found the next morning after hiding overnight in a nearby building. She said her foster mother had assaulted her and she did not want to return home.

She was standing next to a tree in subfreezing temperatures and was taken into protective custody. She appeared to be very cold. She told police that Terry Muller struck her in the face. Police noticed that she had an abrasion on her left cheek. The child was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

The girl was later interviewed by a state trooper and said that because she always had to be escorted to the bathroom by Terry or her husband James, she accidentally urinated on the floor. Terry then forced the girl outside to stand in the cold. James let her back in after 20 minutes, but Terry went back into her bedroom and knocked the girl to the floor twice. While holding the girl on the floor with her body, Terry bit the girl on her back.

She then forced her out of the house again wearing only shorts and a T-shirt, when the girl suddenly decided she needed to leave the premises.

During a hearing PSP Cpl. Shawn Smith testified that after the incident, the child was removed from Muller’s care. Smith testified that the girl’s current guardians did not report the child having any behavioral issues.

Muller, 49, has been charged with unlawful restraint, false imprisonment and endangering the welfare of children—all felonies. She was also charged with two misdemeanor offenses of simple assault.

PSP previously charged James with endangering the welfare of a child related to acts against the same girl. James waived his preliminary hearing on August 30.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Sarah Wilson is assigned to prosecute the case for the district attorney’s office.

Following the hearing, Muller was remanded to the Pike County Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 bail.