WALLACE —  A Pinehurst woman received two five-year sentences Wednesday for her role in a 2025 child abuse case. 

Judge Richard Christensen retained jurisdiction after sentencing 29-year-old Jordanne Freese to two years fixed and three years indeterminate for possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl, along with 180 days in jail for misdemeanor injury to a child. 

Freese was arrested in July following a raid at the property where she lived with her boyfriend and three children. Police responded after a welfare check was requested at a Weir Gulch residence. The children’s father had reported troubling statements from his two older children, who alleged that Freese and her boyfriend, Justin Stevenson, were abusing their 2-year-old sister. 

During the welfare check, former Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Seth Green reportedly observed 42 visible injuries on the toddler’s head and body. Determining she was in imminent danger, he removed her from the home. 

Freese and Stevenson were at the Shoshone County Courthouse the same day for a hearing regarding the child. Both were arrested before leaving. According to the probable cause affidavit, Freese was taken into custody immediately after the hearing, while Stevenson was arrested outside the courtroom. 

The raid occurred on property belonging to Stevenson’s parents. They allowed the couple to live in a camper on-site. The two older children reportedly lived in the main house, while the toddler stayed in the camper with Freese and Stevenson. 

After initially pleading not guilty, Freese accepted a plea agreement in October. In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to request a seven-year prison sentence on the drug charges and 180 days in jail for the abuse charge. 

Shoshone County Deputy Prosecutor Britney Jacobs supported the agreement, emphasizing the seriousness of the abuse and noting that Freese had returned to the residence after her release from treatment. She referenced several photos showing various stages of bruising, burns believed to be from a cigarette, and a wound described as a “hole” in the child’s face. 

During sentencing, an emotional Freese told the court that while the abuse occurred “at her hands,” she had failed her children by allowing them to be harmed and by keeping them in a home where drugs were heavily used. She said her drug use was “no excuse” for the injuries her children suffered. 

“I know I failed to protect them,” Freese said. “I just want a chance to prove myself, to prove that I’m better than these charges.” 

Before issuing the sentence, Judge Christensen spoke about the graphic photographic evidence. 

“Those pictures are stomach-turning,” he said. “I have been an attorney, a prosecutor, a public defender and a judge for numerous years, and those are hard pictures. And you have to take accountability. You are their mother. You did have a duty to protect them.” 

Idaho’s retained jurisdiction program — often called a “rider” — allows a judge to keep authority over an offender for 90 to 365 days while they complete treatment in an Idaho Department of Correction facility. Afterward, the judge determines whether to place the person on probation or send them to prison. 

After announcing the sentence, Christensen encouraged Freese to use the program to change her life. 

“You need to have your head turned around,” he said. “I want you to take this time; there is some punishment, and it’s deserved. But if we just have punishment and you leave at that, nothing ever gets any better. I want you to take the opportunity to take it to heart, put your heart and soul into this rider program. People can change. People can get help. But you have to buy in.” 

All of Freese’s sentences will run concurrently, and she will receive credit for time served. 

The children are in the custody of their father and reside in Colorado. 

Stevenson, who faces similar charges, is scheduled to be sentenced April 2.