A Missouri woman is accused of forcing her young daughter to invent child abuse allegations against the girl’s father “or be killed” during a bitter custody dispute.
Amy Rinkler, 40, has been charged with child abuse. According to a probable cause arrest affidavit, the alleged abuse took place between 2024 and 2026.
The Aurora Police Department opened its investigation in April after receiving a report of child abuse. The girl told officers she “did not feel safe” at her mother’s home because Rinkler allegedly threatened to kill her.
The girl said her mother ordered her to tell investigators that her father “hit, kicked and cursed at her,” but that none of it was true, police wrote. Rinkler allegedly made her “rehearse statements” that were written down in a folder, often late at night or on weekends, and hit her if she “made mistakes.” The girl also told investigators her mother “cursed at her, repeatedly put her down, called her stupid,” according to the affidavit.
Counselors who interviewed the child described her as being in a “terrible emotional state.” Police said the girl “would keep her head down, would not make eye contact or speak, and would not allow herself to be touched.”
One counselor concluded that the trauma the girl suffered “certainly aligns with her fear of seeing her mother and sister after being coerced to lie or be killed.”
Officials involved in the custody case had also grown wary of earlier statements made by the girl and her sister, police said. Those statements were “largely identical” and appeared to have been influenced by their mother, according to the affidavit.
Rinkler denied coaching her daughter, threatening her or having the folder containing the made-up statements, the affidavit states. The defendant was booked into the Lawrence County Jail on Wednesday and is being held without bond. Her next court date is set for Oct. 19.