NEW VINEYARD, Maine — A New Vineyard mother accused of choking and threatening her son and husband is denying she hurt anyone.
Sherry Gray is talking exclusively with CBS13 News after she was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, criminal threatening, and terrorizing.
Her 12-year-old son told his teachers at Cascade Brook School that his mother sat on him, choked him, slapped him, and threatened him and his father with a knife.
Sherry Gray says none of that is true.
“I would never do anything to hurt my son. I love my son,” Gray said.
She admits there was an argument inside her home Monday night over a snack for her son.
He didn’t want to eat oatmeal and threw it all over the floor.
Gray says her son struggles with mental health issues, gets angry easily and lashes out. But she never expected these kinds of accusations.
“I was very surprised, very hurt,” Gray said.
Court documents show that her son told several teachers that after he threw the oatmeal, his mother got on top of him, slapped him repeatedly and choked him.
“I believe he did not want to go home,” explained Franklin Co. Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Steve Lowell. “He was concerned for his safety.”
Police say the boy also claimed that his mother threatened to kill his father with a knife and even drew a picture illustrating the alleged incident in the kitchen.
Gray says she has no idea why her son would draw that picture.
“I am not sure, he watches weird movies,” she said.
Gray says she was doing the dishes during the argument and that this is all just a family dispute blown way out of proportion.
She says she does not believe her son had any reason to believe he or his father was in danger.
“Our family is very strong and we are going to take it day by day,” Gray said.
According to court documents, Gray’s husband told police he never felt threatened by his wife. They’re both living together at their home while their son is in protective custody.
Gray is due back in court in July.