A Valley Grande woman was sentenced to five years behind bars Thursday for abusing an 11-year-old girl in 2014.

According to Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson, 26-year-old Tessie Wilson pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in Circuit Judge Collins Pettaway’s courtroom.

“There is no excuse for what happened to this little child,” Jackson said. “We will not tolerate any kind of child abuse.”

Jackson said Wilson will serve her sentence in the Dallas County Jail.

She was arrested on March 19, 2014, along with her husband, Jonathan Wilson, after the school reported the incident to the Department of Human Resources.

They were both charged with aggravated child abuse for allegedly physically abusing their niece and initially booked into the Dallas County Jail with no bond.

The incident occurred the day before the arrest, when the couple allegedly beat the young girl after she didn’t perform her chores to their standard, according Chief Deputy Randy Pugh with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department when the arrests were made.

According to Pugh, the couple used a wet towel and a belt to strike the girl and forced her to do pushups and jumping jacks as punishment.

According to court documents, Captain. Mike Granthum with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department observed the 11-year-old girl sitting at a table at school attempting to eat lunch.

Granthum noticed that this 11-year-old female …was sitting on one side of her buttocks, and she was having trouble lifting her arm to eat, according to the document.

“When Sgt. Granthum asked her what was wrong, [she] stated that her new mom Tessie and her husband, Jonathan, beat her with a belt and wet towel,” the document read. “[She] further stated that Tessie and John made her do pushups and jumping jacks for a long time.”

According to Jackson, the girl had severe bruising on her body and was physically injured from the exercises.

Jackson said the girl was taken into custody by DHR and is now living with relatives. According to Jackson, Jonathan Wilson is expected to be added to a plea docket in the near future.