A woman from Cherokee, North Carolina has pleaded guilty in federal court to child abuse, child neglect, and assault in Indian Country, admitting to a pattern of abuse that left the victim with a traumatic brain injury and multiple healing fractures. Shawnenna Caroline Roland now faces up to 395 months, or nearly 33 years, in federal prison, though no sentencing date has been set.
According to Fox Carolina, the outlet identified Roland as 41 years old when she appeared in federal court to enter her plea. A 2025 charging announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Western District of North Carolina had listed her age as 39 at the time charges were filed, leaving her exact age unclear across the two accounts.
Court documents described by the station say Roland repeatedly assaulted a child between May 6 and May 20, 2024, resulting in serious bodily injury that included permanent and protracted impairment of the child's mental and emotional function. The same filings reportedly detail Roland hitting the victim with switches, banging her fist on the victim's fingers, and striking the child multiple times.
Child Found Unresponsive After 911 Call
Per the station's report, first responders arrived to find the victim unresponsive after another minor in the home called 911. The child was flown to a hospital for treatment of a traumatic brain injury, the outlet reported.
A bone scan performed at the hospital turned up several healing fractures throughout the victim's body, including injuries to the right arm, pelvis, and both hands, the same account notes. The scan's findings included injuries to the right arm, pelvis, and both hands.
U.S. Attorney Calls the Abuse Disgusting
U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson addressed the case directly, saying Roland caused the child serious and lasting harm. “There is no excuse for treating a helpless child this way,” Ferguson said, according to the outlet's report. “This is disgusting behavior that will land you in federal prison.”
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina announced the guilty plea.
Roland's guilty plea resolves the federal charge first brought against her in 2025, though the case now moves toward sentencing with no date yet on the calendar. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 395 months in prison.
