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A woman who police say used a small child as a human shield when they tried to arrest her has been sentenced to four years in prison for child abuse.

The woman, Christina Anne Wilder, 38, was sentenced to two years in Coffee County Circuit Court on both of two child abuse charges involving the two children in her care.

Her sentence comes after officers arrested Samuel Clayton Wilder on outstanding warrants at their residence at Park Motel in Manchester. Mr. Wilder has been also given four years on child abuse charges.

Police revealed that once inside the residence they found the children living in squalor.

“I almost stepped on a small child in the floor who was sleeping in a pile of garbage,” the warrant against Wilder reads, noting officers found a second child in a cage-like setting without a top. “The child was sleeping on the floor of the pen/cage on top of more garbage.”

Police alerted the Department of Children Services but when they arrived, Wilder reportedly grabbed the little boy and would not release him for over two hours.

“She was squeezing and using the child as a shield between officers and DCS,” the warrant revealed, noting the officers had to use force to pry open the woman’s arms.

Officer noted that Wilder continued resisting after being arrested, kicking and scratching officers as they took her jail.