Joyell Marks, 45, Minot, is accused of abusing two boys for whom she had been caring for about five years. She is charged with two counts of Class C felony child abuse in district court in Minot.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, the boys were 14 and 12 at the time of the report in April. Both boys have been in foster care for about five years and had been living in Marks’ home for most of that time. The boys’ mother reported the alleged abuse and sent photos of bruises on the boys to the boys’ social worker. The 14-year-old reported that Marks had hit him in the head, grabbed him by the neck and arm and held him against the wall in such a position that his feet didn’t reach the floor. He said she also had whipped him with a belt. The 12-year-old said Marks had thrown her phone at him and hit him in the eye and had slapped him across the face so his head hit a towel rack and caused the inside of his mouth to bleed. She also had whipped the 12-year-old with a belt or a switch about two to three times per month, by the boy’s account, and once whipped him up to 50 times with a belt because he was failing a math class.

Marks has also run a home daycare for children, according to the probable cause affidavit filed with the court. Joyell Johnson-Marks’s Marked With Joy Daycare is listed at Daycareminot.com as located at 5107 Tumbleweed Road in Minot. It provided 24-hour childcare for children.

Marks made an initial appearance in court on Monday before Judge Gary Lee, who set bond at $2,500, with a requirement that Marks post 10 percent of that. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 1.