Parents Charged With Starving Teen Girl

(CBS/AP)  A father and stepmother were charged with withholding their 14-year-old daughter's food and water so drastically that she weighed only 48 pounds, authorities said.

Jon Pomeroy, 43, and his wife, Rebecca Long, 44, could face as much as four years in prison if convicted of criminal mistreatment, prosecutor's spokesman Dan Donohoe said. The couple were released on bail late Monday after the charges were brought.

The girl was removed from the family home near Carnation, about 20 miles east of Seattle, in August after a neighbor called child welfare authorities.

The veteran detective who investigated "said this is the worst case he's ever seen, especially for an ongoing pattern of abuse over several years," county sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart said.

According to prosecutors, Long confirmed to a deputy that she considered the girl a behavior problem and restricted her water as discipline. The woman said she had been home-schooling the girl and her 12-year-old brother for four years.

The girl, who is 4 feet 7 inches tall, told authorities that she was given primarily toast to eat and only about 6 ounces of water per day. She said her stepmother even watched when she brushed her teeth to make sure she didn't drink extra water.

According to an affidavit filed by a deputy investigating the case, the girl was forced to sleep in the same room with Long after her stepmother caught her drinking water from the toilet during the night. The girl told the deputy that she didn't use the faucet because she didn't want to waken her stepmother. In response, the affidavit says Long put a heavy dresser in front of the door of the bedroom they shared to keep her stepdaughter from avoiding her punishment.

After the toilet-water drinking incident, the affidavit also says, that Long duct-taped the girl's hands behind her back and dunked her head in the toilet.

She suffered severe malnutrition and dehydration and spent two weeks at Children's Hospital in Seattle. Dentists had to extract six teeth because of long-term decay, court papers said.

She is now in foster care and has gained more than 20 pounds, prosecutors said. Her foster father said she is attending a private school and making friends.

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Read the complete charges against Jon Pomeroy and Rebecca Long

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The boy, whose height and weight were normal, was also placed in foster care, authorities said.

It was not immediately known if the couple had lawyers. No one answered the door Monday at their home.

Pomeroy, a computer software engineer, had divorced the girl's mother in the 1990s, The Seattle Times reported.

In a court affidavit, a detective said the father told him the conflict between his daughter and wife "was concerning but he thought they could just handle it themselves." Pomeroy admitted he never sought professional help for the girl even though he noticed she looked far younger than 14.

Even the family's two dogs were fed normally and had recently been taken to the vet, authorities said.

Child Protective Services had investigated after a teacher reported concerns about the girl in 2005, and the stepmother received counseling. "There were similar issues with the girl's weight. Obviously, it was not as extreme," CPS spokesman Thomas Shapley told the newspaper.

Riverview School District officials said the girl had been attending a once-a-week class for home-schooled students when the teacher raised the concerns in March 2005. Her parents withdrew her from the program, and afterward failed to file yearly reports required from parents who home-school their children.

[sfden]

Just 4 years in Prison? You''ve gotta be kidding, - That should be at the VERY least 20 years. That just makes me sick to my stomach

[wolf77creek]

Both parents are responsible and should be punished severly for this crime. Home schooling should be against the law, most of the people involved with this are weird and their children are deprived of normal learning along with fellow classmates that prepares them to work & live in this world. I have seen much child abuse & weird behavior in children that are home schooled and crazy religions that their parents belong to. If these children are not in public schools or have no outside contacts they are subject to great abuse. The punishments for these crimes need to be very severe & we need to stop just splapping their hands for child abuse & death.

[blackfeet66]

those son of *** need to fry in he. i hope she turns out to be a healthy,beautiful young lady,strong and ambicious

[aggix21]

Why would you do that???? Those parents are prooven STUPID and need to be EXECUTED AND DIE!!!!!! Because they tortured their daughter!!!! I dont get stupid people like that....Why would you not get rid of the dogs so that you could have enough money to feed your own children???? That just makes me MAD!!!

[fabrat1]

Put their picture on here and they won''t have to worry about 4 years because society will take care of them.

[barbaram99]

yep. WE here in WA state will have pay to housed the sick parentS in the big house. I can relate to that girl as years ago the same happened to me in another state. they tied me to the bed so I could get food /water. I was 10 and 4ft. 8in tall wt was 65 pounds. the state got me. It is so sad that that girl went thru..bet she never went to class in her life. I hope they fix them so they can''t breed.

[hidegirlgcks]

BRDLIKY: What the h-ll are you smokin?

[honeybun78]

MY QUESTION, WHERE IS THIS GIRL''S MOTHER? WHEN HER PARENTS DIVORCED, DID HER MOTHER DROP OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH? SHE IS JUST AS RESPONSIBLE IN MY OPINION.

[be_real]

HOME SCHOOLING IS B.S. How can the dad allowed this abuse? he should be hanged by the balls..

[cricketmk3]

Parents who homeschool think they are doing something that deserves a medal but some of them are fanatics and nutcases and the kids are suffering for it. Obviously "homeschool" situations should be monitored more closely.