Documents describe starving girl's nightmare October 31, 2008
- Seattle, Washington
By KOMO Staff
WARNING: Some content of this story is graphic in nature.ARNATION, Wash. - More details about a starved local girl's nightmarish existence emerged Friday after a thick file of documents was released in the girl's case.
The 14-year-old girl was found so badly malnourished in August that investigators described her as looking like a concentration camp survivor. She weighed only 48 pounds and stood only 4 1/2 feet tall when she was taken from the Carnation home earlier this month.
Child Protective Services could have separated the girl from her father and stepmother three years ago but decided against it. Carnation police have gone on record saying the home was not safe, but at the time CPS thought the danger had passed.
According to documents released late Thursday, CPS workers knew as long ago as 2005 that the girl was suffering from neglect and abuse after a teacher who saw her occasionally through a home-schooling support program called to report that the girl:
- Was kept locked in a converted garage for hours with no access to water or food while her stepmother slept late, often until 1 p.m.
- Was "very tiny," weighing only 60 pounds
- Was growing more despondent week by week, staring at the floor when spoken to "like she didn't even hear you ... like she was in her own world."
- Was afraid to go home.
- Said her stepmother "hits me a lot" and then told her not to tell her father about these incidents.
- Said she was not allowed to play with friends, not allowed to use the computer, not allowed to pet the dog, not allowed to use the phone and allowed only one meal a day late in the evening after her father got home from work at 8 p.m.
In a 2005 interview with a social worker, the girl admitted she sometimes was fed only two pieces of toast all day, that her stepmother sometimes hit her and that she was kept locked up.
But the stepmother explained that the girl was locked up "because she has a habit of taking things not belonging to her." And the girl told a social worker that she and her stepmom were "getting along better."
After interviewing the girl and parents, the CPS caseworker decided that the girl was at "low risk" and the case was closed, based on promises from the father, Jon E. Pomeroy, and the stepmother, Rebecca A. Long, to improve the girl's care.
Afterwards, the girl's parents did not follow up with CPS and there is no evidence in the file that they followed through with any of the promises they had made to place the girl in public school, discontinue locking her up or seek counseling.
According to the case file, the girl's case fell off the radar screen for three years until a neighbor reported a bizarre incident on the night of Aug. 13 this year.
The file says that the girl's neighbor "reported that last night (Aug. 13) at around 12:22 a.m. a child started to scream like in pain, it was constant.
"There were no words, just screaming and after a while banging on the doors and the walls of the house.
"The child was walking around the house screaming and banging until 12:41 a.m. then someone opened the door and let the child in.
"The child continued to scream but inside the home. Then again the child was back outside, screaming and walking around the house and banging on the doors and walls.
"At some point the child was let inside but was still screaming. (The neighbor said) an adult female voice was yelling at the child in very 'short, distinct' sentences.
"Child continued screaming, then there were 'two very heavy taps' and everything went silent."
Authorities came to the home the next day.
In the follow-up investigation it was determined that the girl had been systematically starved and deprived of water for years, as a form of discipline.
During the investigation, investigators said they found the girl's mother restricted her water intake to about half of a small Dixie cup per day.
The mother only let the girl shower every two or three weeks, and watched her during each shower and bathroom break to keep the girl from surreptitiously drinking water, Sheriff spokesman John Urquhart said.
"She looked more like she was 8 or 9 years old. Clearly very, very malnourished," Urquhart said. "All of her teeth had to be either pulled or capped."
The girl and her brother were forced to sleep on the floor in the same room as their parents, and a heavy dresser was pushed in front of the door to keep her from sneaking out and getting water, Urquhart said.
The girl said the dresser was placed there after she was caught one night sneaking out of her own room to drink water from the toilet.
The girl told investigators that on one occasion, her mother duct-taped her hands behind her back and dunked her head in the toilet as a form of discipline.
Detectives searched the home and found the girl's room had a double deadbolt on the door used to keep her locked in the room. They also collected evidence that the family had health insurance and that her little brother had seen a doctor in the last few years, but the girl had not seen a doctor since 2002 or 2003.
Urquhart said the family's two dogs were in good health and had recent trips to a veterinary clinic.
In addition, the case file revealed:
- The girl was spanked by the stepmother with her hand, a belt and clog-type shoe.
- The girl was rarely allowed to brush her teeth because the stepmother thought she would surreptitiously swallow water. Her toothbrush was five years old, was very old and dirty, and had "stuff" growing on it.
- The girl was so depressed that she told social workers she would rather have a "lethal injection" than go back home to her father and stepmother.
- Investigators found that the girl's room was in disarray, and her clothing "in the dresser and on the floor had what looked to be rodent droppings on them."
- Her body was so dehydrated that her salivary glands had shut down. As a result, her teeth were rotted, loose or infected, which caused her pain when she was able to eat. Her teeth were so weak that one chipped when she tried to eat a celery stick.
- A doctor examined the girl after the neighbor's Aug. 13 report was received, and immediately had her taken by ambulance to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with extreme malnourishment, dehydration and depression.
According to the case file, the girl is very articulate and "very artistic." In the two months she has been in foster care, she has gained more than 20 pounds, and continues to gain weight.
Both her father and stepmother have been charged with first- and second-degree criminal mistreatment in the case.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/33653879.html
