Mother Goes to Jail After Refusing to Bring Daughter to Court-Ordered Prison Visit

A mother is being sent to prison for the fourth time after refusing to bring her 7-year-old daughter to prison.

The child's father, Samuel Davis Jr., is serving a 15-year sentence in prison for driving drunk and killing a passenger. He successfully petitioned from prison to have court-ordered visits from his daughter, but the mother, Jennifer, is not complying with the ruling.

Jennifer says that she brought their child to the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Indiana twice. She stopped doing so after she was convinced that the visits were causing her daughter "emotional harm."

As a result of her decision, Jennifer has repeatedly been thrown behind bars for contempt of court.

"I know my kids will miss me, but I'll be able to talk to them on the phones and things like that, and I'll be out in 21 days," she told NewsCenter 16 on Thursday.

Jennifer views her decision as a sacrifice that she must make to protect her child.

"This is the craziest thing I've ever heard of, and Sam doesn't care about her and he's just doing this to hurt me. I want to see it stopped," she said.

Jennifer claims that Sam sent her a letter offering to put an end to their quarrel if she will pay him $250.

"I had it right there in black and white, you give me $250 and you scratch my back I'll scratch your back, and I'm not going to have the mother of my child thrown behind bars," Jennifer said.

Jennifer brought forth the letter to the court hoping that the judge would dismiss the case. Her motion was denied.

Court cases involving children are kept confidential. Therefore, the documents and hearings are closed to the public.

The reason Jennifer went public with the issue was to try and reach out to someone that could offer to help her.

"I need, I do need help. I'm hoping this will jump start some kind of outreach from somewhere so I can fight this," she said.

Jennifer, who is represented by a public defender, says she started a new job that she'll likely lose as she serves her 21-day sentence. In her three previous stints in the lockup, Jennifer served a total of 32 days.