Child abuse defendant sentenced to two years in prison

Laila Mallari has been sentenced to serve two years in prison after pleading guilty to a child abuse charge in Superior Court.

According to a sentence and commitment order issued by Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio following a sentencing hearing last June 30, Mallari was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, with three years suspended, leaving two years to serve. She will receive credit for 69 days already served and must serve the custodial sentence day-for-day without the possibility of parole, early release, work release, weekend release, home confinement or similar programs.

The order states that Mallari pleaded guilty last June 4 to one count of child abuse under a previously held plea agreement after she was terminated from the court program.

Upon her release from the Department of Corrections, Mallari will be placed on supervised probation for three years and must report to the Office of Adult Probation on the following business day. She is also required to undergo an alcohol and drug evaluation through the Community Guidance Center within two weeks of her release and comply with any recommended treatment.

As conditions of probation, Mallari is prohibited from possessing or consuming alcohol or controlled substances and must submit to blood, breath or urine testing upon demand by probation officers. She must also obey all CNMI and federal laws and comply with all Office of Adult Probation rules or risk revocation of her suspended sentence.

The court found Mallari indigent and imposed no fine. However, she was ordered to pay the remaining $630 court program fee and $72 in drug test confirmation fees.

Court records show the case stemmed from allegations that Mallari left her two young children, then ages 3 and 4, unattended for an extended period in September 2023. Authorities alleged the children were found in an unsanitary home, wearing only diapers, with visible sores, and smelling of marijuana. Mallari was later arrested after the Department of Public Safety issued a wanted notice in the case.