An Ohio mother insisted she was “not a criminal” as a judge handed down a three-year probation sentence for her involvement in the abuse of her child, using zip ties, electrical cords, and pipes for torture and restraint.

In 2023, Stacie Gilmore’s 11-year-old son reported the abuse to authorities after being discovered alone at a Target store, as noted by the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office.

Gilmore, a resident of Youngstown, received her sentence on Tuesday following her conviction in October for one count of unlawful restraint, two counts of child endangerment, and one count of domestic violence.

At 51, Gilmore was convicted after a three-day jury trial where she took the stand to refute the charges against her. She was acquitted of a felony kidnapping charge, which could have resulted in a decade-long prison term.

During the trial’s opening remarks, Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Caitlyn Andrews described how the child was bound and subjected to physical abuse with various objects, as reported by The Vindicator newspaper.

Gilmore and her defense attorney argued that the child fabricated the allegations because he was upset with her strict parenting, which included restrictions like not allowing him to attend a regular school or access the internet. “He didn’t want to be there,” defense attorney Jim Lanzo claimed during his opening statements, according to The Vindicator.

Gilmore claimed her son would randomly leave her home and “started taking the phone with him” while she was asleep or distracted by other activities. She admitted to tying a bed sheet to her leg and the boy — claiming she told him, “I’m going with you,” if he tried to leave — but insisted she never used zip ties or abused him.

“I’ve never restrained [the boy],” Gilmore testified. “Do I take things away from him? Yes.”

Gilmore’s son accused her during the trial of tying him up in the basement, which she claimed was also not true. She said she forced the boy to sleep on a couch because he had broken three beds from jumping on them, The Vindicator reports.

“I am not a criminal,” Gilmore said at her sentencing Tuesday, according to the local NBC affiliate WFMJ. “I am a beacon to this community. I help people that are on drugs.”

Gilmore, who has been behind bars, had hoped that the justice system would “be lenient” with her, per WFMJ. She received three years of probation and must receive mental health treatment.

Gilmore was ordered to serve 55 more days in jail to complete a total of eight months, according to WFMJ. She must not contact her son as part of the probation, or she will face three years in prison. The boy was removed from her home by the Mahoning County Children’s Services Board.