A Middletown mother will spend 21/2 to 5 years in state prison for assaulting her daughter because the teen didn't recite Bible verses correctly.

Rhonda Shoffner, 41, was sentenced by Dauphin County Judge John F. Cherry after she pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault, strangulation, child endangerment and making terroristic threats.

"This was an extremely scary situation for this young victim to have to endure. Fortunately, she is doing well now and is in a safe place," Chief Deputy District Attorney Sean McCormack said Thursday.

Police said Shoffner attacked the 13-year-old in March. She bit the girl and slammed the teen's head into a bathroom wall, they said. Investigators said Shoffner told the girl, "I'm going to kill you."

Shoffner was intoxicated during the assault, police said. Cherry ordered her to undergo substance abuse counseling and required her to serve 5 years on probation once she completes her prison term.

McCormack said Shoffner's guilty pleas also encompassed a January incident where she hit and bit a woman during an argument in a car.