Jon Pomeroy and Rebecca Long were described by one neighbor as “very ‘to-themselves’ kind of people.” They avoided contact with people in the community and neighbors would soon learn the disturbing reason why.
The couple had two children, a 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy. Both children were from Jon Pomeroy’s previous marriage… The children were also kept away from people and rarely left the house. The parents decided to home school them, which Rebecca mostly handled.
Pomeroy and Long probably would have gone along leading their quiet, isolated lives, hiding their dark secrets, had it not been for a sound one neighbor heard. Late one evening, one of their neighbors heard what sounded to her like a child screaming.
The neighbor tried to put it out of her mind but just couldn’t get over the feeling that something was really wrong. She trusted her gut and when the next day came she called child protective services. It was a good thing that she did because when investigators arrived at Pomeroy and Long’s home, they saw a disturbing situation…
The lead detective who reported to the scene called it the “worst case of child abuse they’d ever seen” in his 16 years with the special-assault unit. The daughter was tiny, pale and emaciated and the 14-year-old was suffering from severe malnutrition and dehydration, standing 4-foot-7 and weighing just 48 pounds.
Both children were removed from the home for their own safety. It was at that point that investigators began to get the full scope of what had been going on…
They found out Rebecca Long had been “restricting” her stepdaughter’s food and water intake in order to discipline her. The daughter was only given one or two pieces of toast to eat and as little as half a dixie cup of water for an entire day. In order to make sure she wasn’t sneaking any additional water, her mother directly monitored her whenever she used the bathroom and during the one shower she was allowed every 2 to 3 weeks.
Long and Pomeroy would also force the children to sleep on the floor of their bedroom and would put a heavy dresser in front of the door at night to keep them locked in. They started this policy after they caught the daughter licking condensation off the windows and drinking water from the toilet one night. She told police that she hadn’t wanted to use the faucet because she feared her mother would hear her…
While Pomeroy was at work, Long would keep her stepdaughter locked in her room for extended periods of time. She would also duct tape the girls arms behind her back and would sometimes dunk her head in the toilet as punishment for perceived misdeeds.
After being removed from the home the girl spent two weeks in the hospital. Doctors began evaluating her health and found that she hadn’t gained any weight since the age of 9. They also found that every one of her teeth were eroded and chipped. They believed their deterioration was “likely due to the shutdown of her salivary function due to extreme dehydration over an extended period of time”…
Even though the children were quickly removed from the home, it took police nearly two months to build a case to arrest Long and Pomeroy. This may be even more shocking considering that three years prior, Child Protective Services had been alerted to something being wrong in the home.
At that time, the two children were still enrolled in public school. Child Protective Services had been alerted when the girl told her teacher that she was frequently locked in a room by her stepmother and was barely given any food. When a social worker visited their home, she even begged to be placed in a foster home…
The social worker concluded that the parents were mistreating the child, mostly as a result of disputes with her stepmom. But rather than taking any meaningful action, she just took the parents’ word that they would stop the mistreatment and recommended that the girl undergo counseling. The case was closed about a month later, then the girl was pulled out of school.
Pomeroy and Long were arrested and charged with first-degree criminal mistreatment. After they’d been found guilty, their daughter requested that the judge sentence Long to 11 years in prison, “One for every year she made me feel ashamed of myself and abused me”…
Both Pomeroy and Long would be sentenced to 3 and a half years in prison. The two children were placed in a foster home and are doing much better. The girl is doing much better in terms of her health.
Doctors removed 6 of the girls teeth under general anesthesia and capped the rest of her remaining teeth. She rapidly gained dozens of pounds under the care of her foster parents until she reached a normal weight. Although the kids’ tormentors were already in prison, they weren’t quite done with courts and lawyers.
The girl and her brother went back to court to sue the Department of Social and Health Services for their handling of their case. They had been notified years before of the terrible conditions in the home but did nothing to improve the situation.
The tiny, teenage girl stepped to the front of the courtroom Friday, holding a letter she wanted to read to the judge about her abuse. Wearing a black skirt, layered sweaters and dark-rimmed glasses, the 15-year-old broke into tears and walked from the podium. The judge, William Downing of King County Superior Court, assured her he had read the letter, which had been submitted to him in advance.
The state didn’t have much of a case. The social worker who had visited the home even admitted under oath that she did not prepare a “safety plan,” which would have detailed steps to make sure the child had regular contact with other adults. The state quickly settled and agreed to pay $4.6 million to the two kids.
