The stepmother accused of locking her 12-year-old stepdaughter in the basement of their Middletown home emphatically denied depriving the girl of food, giving her cold showers and force feeding her peanut butter with garlic and pepper during her testimony Wednesday in Butler County Juvenile Court.

Joanna Blackston, 37, instead portrayed herself as a caring mother who tried to fix whatever damaged relationship she had with the 12-year-old girl, who, she said, has been in counseling since November 2008. Her testimony during day two of the trial was in stark contrast to prosecution witnesses — including the 12-year-old girl — who said the girl was abused and beaten.

Blackston and her 40-year-old husband, Shawn, have been charged with child endangering for allegedly locking the girl in the basement of their Philadelphia Avenue home from June 18 to July 3, the day Butler County Children Services and Middletown police were called to investigate allegations of abuse. Six of the couple’s eight children in their blended family were living at the home in July and were removed by Children Services and placed into foster care.

The Blackstons face up to six months in jail if convicted of the misdemeanor.

The case brought an outcry from Butler County Commissioners and prompted several departmental changes in Children Services, including caseworker suspensions and former Children Services director Jeff Centers lost his job.

Joanna Blackston’s mother, Millie Green, also testified as a defense witness Wednesday, saying the 12-year-old was not truthful and she believes her accusations to be false.

“We figured (the 12-year-old) was up to her little tricks again,” Green said. “(She) was always doing little things like that, so we figured she was doing it again.”

On Tuesday, attorneys Ched Peck, who represents Joanna, and Tim Upton, who represents Shawn Blackston, contended the 12-year-old was defiant and once threatened to kill her 2- and 3-year-old siblings.

Wednesday’s testimony started with Eckart Wallisch, CDC Mental Health Services clinical director, who met with the girl in July for about 90 minutes.

He testified the alleged punishments the girl described were psychologically damaging, and the alleged cold showers would be considered a “form of torture.”

Wallisch testified his diagnosis of the girl includes adjustment disorder, parent-child relational problem, neglect of a child and physical abuse of a child, “and I didn’t rule out reactive detachment disorder and mood disorder.”

During Peck’s cross-examination of Wallisch, he asked if his diagnosis would be different if the girl’s version of her experience was false or inaccurate.

He said it likely would.

Former Middletown police detective Fred Shumake, who retired about two months ago, testified about his investigation and the differences in the Blackstons’ home when he and other officers executed a search warrant. He testified that many of the locks seen in the home and filth in the basement on July 3 was not present on July 10 when he conducted the search.

Joanna Blackston acknowledged she was cleaning up the basement, and removing the locks. She said her stepdaughter hid her bedding, and her toys and books were hidden under the bed.

“We were not trying to hide anything at all,” Joanna Blackston said. “We did purchase a baby gate to see how to try to fix this.”

Shumake also said the girl looked almost gaunt and was dirty.

“She had the tale-tell demeanor and look of someone who had not bathed in a significant amount of time,” Shumake said.

The Blackstons were arrested on July 6 at a Sharonville motel. During her testimony Wednesday, Joanna Blackston said they went to the motel because their house was a constant reminder their children were removed from their custody.

“I could not stand to sit in my house at that point in time,” Blackston said. “I had just got the paper work from Children Services and learning of all the allegations. … I couldn’t stare at their toys, I couldn’t stand anything. I went to a motel to gather my thoughts.”

Blackston will be cross-examined today by prosecutors, the final day scheduled for the bench trial.