By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 27-year-old Maylene woman is set to stand trial on a felony aggravated child abuse charge in early February, after her original trial date in 2018 was continued, according to Shelby County Circuit Court documents.

Sherrie Cherie Vernon, who lists an address on Shelby County 270 in the Alabaster portion of Maylene, is set to stand trial on the charges beginning on Feb. 11, according to a scheduling document filed in December 2018.

She appeared in court for a pre-trial docket call on Jan. 7, and will appear in court for a plea date on Jan. 28.

Vernon was arrested in January 2016 and charged with the Vernon was released from the Shelby County Jail after posting a $20,000 bond shortly after she was arrested.

Aggravated child abuse is a Class B felony, and is punishable by up to 20 years in prison upon conviction.

Vernon’s charges came after she allegedly did “torture, willfully abuse, cruelly beat or otherwise willfully maltreat” a victim under the age of 18 by “handling said child in such a manner which caused” damage to the child’s genital area, according to her indictment.

felony count of aggravated child abuse. Her arrest came after a Shelby County grand jury issued a one-count indictment against her after reviewing evidence in the case.

The alleged offense happened on Nov. 3, 2015, according to the indictment.

Vernon’s trial originally was scheduled for September 2018, but was continued after Vernon’s attorney cited a scheduling conflict.