Someone needs to die for this

[Sauron]

Carnation is a small town outside of Redmond (Microsoft's turf).

Fucker.

Carnation girl, 14, found starved to 48 pounds

By Mike Carter, Sonia Krishnan and Christine Clarridge

Seattle Times staff reporters

For Rebecca Long, it was a "power struggle" intended to rein in an unruly stepdaughter. She'd lock the teenager in her bedroom and deny her food and water, according to court documents. To teach her a lesson.

For the girl, it was a nightmarish struggle to survive on toast and a half a Dixie cup of water a day. Desperate to slake her thirst, the girl reportedly told detectives she would sometimes suck condensation from the windows or sneak a drink from the toilet — that is, until she got caught.

Then, she said, she was forced to sleep on the floor in her stepmom's room, a heavy dresser blocking the door.

The rest of the time, according to detectives, the child was locked in her room behind double deadbolts, her floor and clothing sprinkled with rodent droppings and every bite of her meager meals an agony because her teeth were rotting out.

Once, the girl told detectives, her stepmother duct-taped her hands behind her and dunked her head in the toilet, the charges allege.

To teach her a lesson.

King County prosecutors on Monday filed felony mistreatment charges against Long, 44, and the girl's father, Jon Pomeroy, 43, alleging they isolated and starved the 14-year-old girl.

Long and Pomeroy were originally arrested Friday and, at that time, prosecutors asked they be held on $400,000 and $150,000 bail, respectively. King County District Court Judge Janet Garrow said she did not believe they posed a flight risk or were a threat to the community and released them on their own recognizance.

Monday evening, the couple were booked into jail and then released on $20,000 bail each. They are scheduled to appear for arraignment Oct. 27. When police and state child-protection agents responded to the couple's secluded Carnation home in August, after a call from concerned neighbors, they found the girl sick, pale and emaciated.

She was 4 foot 7 and weighed 48 pounds.

The girl's 12-year-old brother and two family dogs appeared in good health, according to court papers.
[...]
The girl was taken straight to Children's Medical Center, where she spent two weeks and underwent surgery to remove six of her teeth and put crowns on all of the others. Doctors said malnutrition and the apparent failure of her saliva glands — the body's response to severe dehydration — destroyed her teeth.

The girl "explained that, while she did have a toothbrush, it was very old and dirty and her stepmother, who must watch her when she brushes in order to make sure she does not drink any extra water, often doesn't want to wait ... so she goes without brushing," according to the charges.

It was the same when she was allowed to shower every two or three weeks, the girl told deputies, according to the documents.

Deputies said she more resembled a child of 7 or 8 years old, and doctors at Children's said she stopped gaining weight around age 9.

[Shelli]

Disgusting monsters. Horrifying shit like this happens every day and I just don't get it, nor do I want to.

$20k bail? ONLY $20k?

They should have just been taken out back and shot.

[BrotherMan]

I think there's something fishy with their justice system. If I'm reading the article correctly, here's the outline of events:

• Trouble in the past, Mom received counseling and all was "okay."
• They were recently investigated and arrested.
• Released on bail, sent home to the children
• Re-arrested a few days or weeks later

Is that about right? Setting aside the horrible abuse (as if it can be done), not only did the parents (mom and dad) fail the girl but so did society.

[mickthinks]

I think there's something fishy with their justice system.
I'm not sure why you say that. It's a distressing case, but that's all the more reason to guard against letting emotions run away with us. I believe we are missing a lot of information that is needed to understand most of the issues raised here.

The only thing that is clear to me is that, in a civilised society, no one has the right to bring up their children in whatever way they think best and without state interference. When one becomes a parent or guardian, I think one gives up some rights to privacy and autonomy.

Mick

[Crumb]

so sad

[erimir]

I wonder wtf was up with the father and brother.

[mickthinks]

Like I said, we don't know enough to judge them. Suppose, for instance, the daughter turns out to be clinically pyschotic or even psychopathic, and the family didn't understand, but thought that she could be cured by her step-mother's discipline. That would throw a different light on the horror, I think.

[Shelli]

Uh, no, it wouldn't. Their actions were abominable regardless of what the girl did or didn't do.

[mickthinks]

Their actions were abominable regardless of what the girl did or didn't do.
I am not sure what 'abominable' is doing here, except begging the question. Their actions were wrong, but how do we know that we wouldn't understand them if we knew all the facts?

[Shelli]

I repeat:

Originally Posted by Shelli

Uh, no, it wouldn't. Their actions were abominable regardless of what the girl did or didn't do.

[mickthinks]

And I repeat - I am not sure what 'abominable' is doing here, except begging the question. Their actions were wrong, but how do we know that we wouldn't understand them if we knew all the facts?

[wei yau]

What do you mean by "understand them"? I can't see how I could reach the level of understanding where I would say "Yeah, I would've done the same thing, if I were them". I'm not even sure I could reach "Well, they had their reasons".

What level of understanding are you referring to?

[Adam]

I'm not sure I understand the conflict here. First off, the story in the OP is pure atrocity porn. No offense to anyone, but posting it serves no purpose other than to let us all be shocked and titillated, point fingers, and exclaim "Those monsters!"

Moving on, sure, maybe if we had full possession of the facts, we might understand why the people involved did the things they did, but so what? I don't see anyone suggesting that there could be no reasons for their actions other than sheer malevolence. Perhaps the family did believe they were "treating" valid problems (the mother, at least, seems to have believed so). I don't see how that invalidates observations that not only the mother who actively abused her, but the family that allowed it to happen and the authorities who failed to detect or stop it are also culpable in some sense.

[mickthinks]

atrocity porn


What level of understanding are you referring to?
A higher level than any of us can claim merely on the basis of the story as presented to us by the atrocity pornographers. I have no idea what that level might be. I just know that I'd like people to strive for it before they join the lynch-mob.

There is a whole world of difference between "I have sympathy for this sad family" and "I have no sympathy for any of these monsters". If it turns out that the former is the more appropriate judgement, I think prematurely jumping to the latter judgement would just add to the tragedy.

Mick

[Kael]

A valid point, mick. Still, as the only information I have currently is the report (and that likely to be all the information I will ever get), I do in fact have the luxury of entertaining my initial reaction. Were I closer to the situation, things might be different. On the other hand, they might not. A lynch-mob may not be appropriate, but sympathy for the perpetrators may not be either. We simply don't know, nor are we in a position to influence the course of events. So, let your natural reactions ride out. Personally, based on the information provided, I can envision no circumstance where the mother would warrant less than a flogging, and the child removed to protective custody.

Personally, I'm wondering when yguy's gonna come in and tell us how 'at least the parents weren't gay' or some such trollish nonesense.

[Adam]

Be vewwy vewwy quiet! I'm hunting dark spiwits!

[1Samuel8]

Originally Posted by Kael

Personally, I'm wondering when yguy's gonna come in and tell us how 'at least the parents weren't gay' or some such trollish nonesense.

Ha!
Just wait until we find out that the family was only able to afford a house because of some lobbying done by ACORN without which this girl's misery would not have been concealed from the outside world!

If only the banks were not lending money out to every single yahoo in the country!

[beyelzu]

Originally Posted by Adam

I'm not sure I understand the conflict here. First off, the story in the OP is pure atrocity porn. No offense to anyone, but posting it serves no purpose other than to let us all be shocked and titillated, point fingers, and exclaim "Those monsters!"

at first blush I agreed with this position but then I got to thinking and it serves a very valuable purpose, applying social approbation or rather directing it. Maybe the name will stick with some people and those people will then shun the dipshits that abused their daughter ala myspace suicide girl's tormentors.


While I agree that such stories are sensationalized and part of a for profit business model of corporate media, I also think that they probably serve a purpose in a mobile society such as our own.

[Sauron]

Originally Posted by Adam

I'm not sure I understand the conflict here. First off, the story in the OP is pure atrocity porn. No offense to anyone, but posting it serves no purpose other than to let us all be shocked and titillated, point fingers, and exclaim "Those monsters!"

If you think it was some kind of internet paparazzi shock value post, then you missed the point of why I posted it - and you certainly don't know me very well.

I posted this because:

1. I really was (am) outraged by this - what one human being can do to another - and wonder where people's conscience and sense of empathy goes to in times like this; and

2. It happened within spitting distance of where I live

[wildernesse]

What I would like to see is some kind of study about the people who do this. Starving children to this point is a fairly frequent occurrence--I can think of four cases off the top of my head in the past few years that I've been aware of through the news--so it's not like these people are completely unusual. What do they have in common with each other? Are the perpetrators experiencing similar stresses? Are the social systems weak in the same areas? Where do we not see this happening? Is the environment different or the same? Where are the turning points that can make a difference?

That is what I would like to see when these stories come up. Some kind of context.

ETA: When I searched the LOCAL paper for "starved child" to find the local story from last week about a child in NC who was starved, I actually had 3 hits from the last seven days. One was the local NC story, one was about a starved child who was strangled by her stepbrother in NY, and the story in the OP.

[Adam]

Sauron, I was referring more to the story itself than to your posting it. It's sensationalized, lingers on the lurid details of the abuse, and gives us very little of the sort of context we'd need to draw an informed opinion beyond ZOMG THOSE MONSTERS!

[Dingfod]

There is no context by which a case like this, if it is as presented in the article and the OP, can ever be justified. I cannot muster any sympathy toward the perpetrators at all.

[beyelzu]

Originally Posted by Adam

Be vewwy vewwy quiet! I'm hunting dark spiwits!

are they wascally?

cuz if so abandon all hope

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Dingfod

There is no context by which a case like this, if it is as presented in the article and the OP, can ever be justified. I cannot muster any sympathy toward the perpetrators at all.

Who said anything about justification? All I'm saying is that, sans context, the story is just* atrocity porn. Proper context would be something along the lines of wildernesse's post. What does the research say about cases like this? What, if anything, can we do to make sure that the authorities don't miss these cases so often? What practical purpose does this story serve, beyond giving us something to idly chatter and moralize about?

* - Maybe not "just"...there's probably something to bey's point about alerting polite society as to whom we should shun, at least for local media markets.

Originally Posted by beyelzu

are they wascally?

Teh ghey spirits are just dark. I think the wascally ones cause bisexuality.