Paula Jo McCallister (St. Louis County Sheriff's Office).
A Minnesota child allegedly endured nearly 17 months of relentless abuse and torture inside a woman's home, including forced workouts and punishments that consisted of making the youth stand with their toes and nose pressed against a wall all day.
Paula Jo McCallister, 36, of Chisholm, would force the child to "go on the wall" every day from the time they woke up to the time they went to bed — telling them they couldn't get off "the wall" if they spoke or turned around, according to a criminal complaint obtained by local NBC affiliate KBJR.
McCallister allegedly pushed the child down on one occasion, pulled out a pistol, cocked it, then held the weapon to the victim's forehead and told them, "Your death would bring me sweet relief."
According to the complaint, McCallister also refused to feed the child for days at a time as another form of punishment after accusing them of stealing food. She also allegedly locked the victim in a room without food and water and forced them to kneel on grains of rice while holding weights.
A sibling told investigators that the victim, whose relation to McCallister is unclear, was punished daily unless McCallister decided to give them another chance, KBJR reports. The abuse allegedly went on from September 2024 to January 2026.
The child told investigators that McCallister had instructed them to stay quiet, while claiming that police would not believe the victim if they told anyone about her punishments, according to the complaint.
McCallister allegedly told the child that since she had no criminal history, they would be returned to her without any consequences for her actions.
Police arrested McCallister on seven criminal counts of child torture, second-degree assault, domestic assault by strangulation, neglect or endangerment of a child, malicious punishment of a child, domestic assault, and false imprisonment with unreasonable restraint of a child by tying, locking, caging, or chaining.
She faces up to 25 years in prison for the child torture charge.
McCallister is out on bail and due in court Wednesday.