Former Utah resident charged with abuse

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Oct 14, 2008 | by Jens Dana Deseret News

A man who once lived in Utah and his wife now face charges in Washington after police said they starved their 14-year-old daughter until she weighed 48 pounds.

King County Prosecutors in Washington have filed charges against the girl's father Jon Earl Pomeroy, 43, and step-mother Rebecca Arwen Long, 44, for two counts of criminal mistreatment, according to court documents filed Monday in court. The charges stem from what King County Sheriff deputies described as drawn-out, systematic abuse of their 14-year-old daughter, who was so malnourished and dehydrated she was only 48 pounds when deputies found her.

"She was extremely skinny and pale and appeared to be 7 or 8 years old," deputies wrote in a police report.

According to the The Seattle Times, Pomeroy lived in Orem during the mid-'90s with his first wife who gave birth to the girl and her younger brother. They divorced and Pomeroy gained custody of the children.

According to a police report, deputies stopped by Pomeroy's home Aug. 13 at the behest of Child Protective Services. They observed the girl weighed 48 pounds and was just 4-feet 7-inches tall.

The girl told deputies her step-mother restricted her intake to six fluid ounces a day as a form of discipline. She also said Long supervised her while she went to the bathroom or bathed to keep her from "sneaking" any extra water.

She said Long would sleep in a room with her and would pull a dresser in front of the door so the girl couldn't leave during the night. The girl said Long started doing this after catching her sneaking to drink from the toilet. The girl said she did this because the faucet was too loud and would wake Long.

Deputies said Long admitted she deprived her step-daughter of water to discipline her for a "behavioral problem."

Deputies said the girl said she has pain when she eats food and even broke a tooth when biting into a piece of celery. Doctors told deputies every single tooth needed to be extracted or capped because of malnutrition and dehydration.

Pomeroy told deputies he knew there was a "power struggle" between his step-wife and daughter. He said he thought the struggle was concerning, but figured they could handle it themselves.

Both children have been removed from the home and placed in foster care, deputies wrote in the report. The girl has reportedly gained 20 pounds and is attending private school.

King County prosecutor Daniel Satterberg filed charges of criminal mistreatment against Pomeroy and Long on Monday. He requested they have no unsupervised contact with minors, and he also requested the judge set their bail at $20,000 each.

"The state is concerned that they will flee now that both kids have been removed from their custody and they face a substantial prison sentence if convicted," Satterberg wrote in a request for bail.

E-mail: jdana@desnews.com