A couple charged with abusing a 4-year-old girl pleaded guilty in a McMinn County Courtroom Oct. 9.
Robert Allen Jones, 29, and Edna May Jones, 37, both of Church Street, Vonore, were arrested in March 2008 after they tied the child to a couch. They both pleaded guilty to child abuse and neglect, for which they received four years suspended.

They were scheduled to be in Monroe County Court later this month, but decided to plea to Judge Amy Reedy in McMinn County.
Vonore Police officers learned the 4-year-old Vonore girl had been tied to a couch in her home and left there, sometimes for an entire night. The child was found with ligature marks on her wrists and ankles and large bruises on her leg and buttocks.

Two short ropes were found in her home, attached to the legs of the living room couch.
Written statements indicate the child had been tied to the back of a love seat in the living room on several occasions.
The child is now in state custody.

A third person charged with child abuse and neglect, Tammy Joyce Shubert, 31, has a status hearing set for Oct. 26 and a trial set for Oct. 28.