Yahweh Lord (born c. 1983), Rainbow Lord (born c. 1985), and Angel Lord (born c. 1988) were abused by their father, John Lamont Davis (who also went by “Rajohn Lord”), their mother Carrie Lee Davis, and Faye Alice Potts, who lived with the Davises. “The boys were schooled at home, but not under any official home-schooling program. Potts taught them English and math.” In spring 1991, 6-year-old Rainbow ate a piece of drywall and became sick, perhaps due to a beating. As the Davises’ extreme religious beliefs were opposed to medical care, they did not seek treatment for Rainbow. After he died, they burned his body.
Yahweh and Angel grew up isolated from the outside world. They were starved, beaten with a “rod of correction”, and sometimes chained to their beds. When they were rescued, they did not know how to eat an apple and they were severely underdeveloped, with “wasted muscles that [made] it difficult for them to walk.” The boys were not allowed to speak unless they were reading from the Bible, were not allowed to use the bathroom, and were only allowed to shower under a cold hose every few months. They were never seen by a doctor.
The abuse came to light in October 2000 when Yahweh called 911. After the boys’ rescue, Yahweh changed his name to Jerry and Angel changed his name to Michael. Jerry was diagnosed with schizophrenia and sadly was murdered in 2003 not far from the group home where he was living.
The Davises and Potts were charged with “two counts each of torture, felony child abuse involving great bodily harm and false imprisonment.” After Rainbow’s remains were discovered, they were also charged with his murder, and John Davis was also charged with raping a “15- or 16-year-old girl in January 1995.” Following these charges, Davis committed suicide in his cell. Carrie Davis pleaded guilty and was sent to a mental institution, and Potts pleaded no contest and was sent to prison.
Date: October 14, 2000
Location: Twentynine Palms, California Read More
Last Updated: July 3, 2021 by clmccracken
Antonio Rader
Antonio Rader, age 7, was beaten, starved, and tortured by his mother, Mary Rader (right), and her mother and stepfather, Deana (left) and Dennis Beighley. Antonio’s siblings, 11- and 4-year-old sisters and a 9-year-old brother, were not abused, although his brother was underweight. Antonio had attended public school until fall 2013, “at which time his mother enrolled him in a home-based cyberschool.”
Antonio was pulled from school after teachers reported to social services that the boy was always hungry and that Rader had instructed them not to serve him breakfast. Antonio was beaten with belts for stealing food, forbidden from leaving the house, and forced to sleep on the floor in his own urine. He was not allowed to bathe and had life-threatening abscesses in his teeth. He weighed 24 lbs. when he was rescued.
The abuse came to light when Antonio managed to escape from the house and a neighbor saw him and called the authorities. Rader and the Beighleys were each charged with attempted murder, as well as aggravated assault, false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a child, and conspiracy to commit murder.
Date: June 6, 2014
Location: Greenville, Pennsylvania Read More
Last Updated: July 3, 2021 by clmccracken
3 children of Kate Parker
Katherine G. “Kate” Parker had 7 biological children (Megan, 21; Adam, 20; Emily, 14; Sarah and David, 11; Isaac, 9; and Joshua, 7) and 2 adopted children (Bethany, 5; and Hannah, 4; adopted from the Ukraine in 2010). Parker is accused of medically abusing Joshua, Bethany, and Hannah by lying to doctors and inventing or causing illness or injury. The other children also underwent numerous procedures for medical conditions which were not independently diagnosed. The children were homeschooled.
Joshua (who had spina bifida) and Bethany and Hannah (who both had Down syndrome) all underwent surgeries officials believe were unnecessary beginning in 2007. In late 2012, Hannah was “re-homed,” a legally sketchy practice that involves passing around adopted children, often to people known only through online websites and forums. Meanwhile, Parker used her children’s alleged illnesses to solicit charitable donations online. When Joshua was hospitalized in September 2013, doctors grew suspicious of Parker’s negative response to news that Joshua’s condition was improving. After Parker’s friend notified social services, Parker coached her other children in how to respond to social workers’ questions. Parker’s minor children were removed from her home.
Parker was arrested on April 1, 2014 for “24 counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment, four counts of first-degree assault, one count of child abandonment, four counts of computer crime, four counts of identity theft, five counts of witness tampering and one count of recklessly endangering another.”
Date: September 2013
Location: Grants Pass, Oregon Read More
Posted: September 5, 2014 by clmccracken
2 children of Jessica Botzko and John Westover
Two boys, ages 10 and 5, were locked in cages by their parents, Jessica Botzko and John Westover, as punishment for stealing food and whenever Westover was making drugs. The older boy was also sometimes forced to wear a dog’s shock collar; he had previously been “removed from the home in 1998 when Botzko was charged with child endangering.” Westover was wanted on child endangering charges stemming from a report of the family living in a filthy hotel room in Maumee, Ohio in 2004. The older boy had attended school until December 2003 but Botzko then pulled him from school, later telling police she was homeschooling him. “Toledo Public Schools has no record of either boy enrolled in the district or their parents applying for home-schooling.” The family moved frequently to avoid the authorities and the boys were not allowed to leave the house. Westover and Botzko also had a daughter who had died, reportedly of SIDS, several years before.
The abuse came to light in May 2007 when the boys were left alone and escaped to a neighbor’s house. The neighbor alerted police. Westover and Botzko both pleaded no contest to child endangering and were sentenced to four years in prison.
Date: May 1, 2007
Location: Toledo, Ohio Read More
Posted: September 5, 2014 by rachel
Child of August and Jeanine Halbesleben
Tommy Halbesleben, age 10, was starved by his father, August James Halbesleben, and his stepmother Jeanine Marie Halbesleben, from the summer of 1999—when the Halbeslebens began homeschooling him due to “conflicts with his second grade teacher and school officials”—until February 2000. Jeanine had been convicted in 1999 of misdemeanor injury to a child after she hit Tommy’s older brother and ruptured his eardrum.
The Halbeslebens had attended a parenting class where “they were taught that food limitations could be used as a form of discipline.” When Tommy began misbehaving, they limited his food intake to oatmeal, rice, noodles, and beans. The Halbeslebens claimed not to realize their son was starving, believing he was on a healthy diet. After he was rescued, Tommy gained 6 lbs. in the first 24 hours.
The abuse came to light after an anonymous tip brought officials to the Halbeslebens’ home on a welfare check and declared Tommy in immediate danger. The Halbeslebens were convicted of felony injury to a child on November 3, 2000, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Their conviction was overturned in 2003 and they were re-tried. In a plea agreement to avoid further jail time, August Halbesleben “pleaded guilty to two charges of misdemeanor injury to a child and Jeanine Halbesleben pleaded guilty to one felony charge of injury to a child.”
Date: February 2000
Location: Boise, Idaho Read More
Posted: September 4, 2014 by clmccracken
2 children of Emily Miller
Two boys, ages 10 and 9, were removed from the custody of their adoptive mother, Emily Miller, after the younger boy—who had cerebral palsy—was found tied to a urine-filled bucket in the basement. Clad only in a t-shirt and tied by a dog leash, he had been there for at least a day. The older boy, who had learning disabilities, was apparently unharmed. Both were homeschooled and had been pulled from school.
Miller, a longtime foster and adoptive mother of special-needs children, had previously had two of her children die: in January 1993, her 4-month-old adopted daughter Ieisha Dyson had died of a severe birth defect, and in April 1995 Miller’s 2-year-old adopted son DuJuan Miller had died of supposed SIDS. Earlier in 1999, a baby Miller was fostering was found to have injuries consistent with abuse.
Due to lack of evidence of abuse, Miller was not charged.
Date: November 1, 1999
Location: Detroit, Michigan Read More
Posted: September 4, 2014 by clmccracken
Daughter of Arletha and Anthony Hopkins
The daughter of Arletha Hopkins was repeatedly raped by her stepfather Rev. Anthony Hopkins, a traveling evangelist, starting in 2001 when she was 11 and continuing until she ran away from home at age 19. When Arletha discovered the abuse, Anthony murdered her and forced her daughter to help him hide her body. Anthony continued to rape his stepdaughter and when she escaped in July 2008 she was pregnant with his child. The girl’s seven siblings (six of whom were Anthony’s biological children) were not abused. The girl had been pulled out of school in fifth grade to be homeschooled by Anthony, and he also homeschooled the other children. When he began raping his stepdaughter, he used Bible stories to convince her it was normal.
The Hopkinses originally lived in Whatley, GA, but moved quickly to Jackson, AL where the girl attended school and the first rape occurred. After she was pulled from school the family moved to Mobile, AL, then New Orleans, Louisiana, then back to Mobile where Arletha was murdered December 4, 2004. Arletha’s body was first buried in Jackson, then Anthony forced the girl to help him move her mother’s body to a freezer in their Mobile home, where it remained until 2008. Arletha had given birth to her eighth child on November 21, 2004; Anthony told people that his wife had died in childbirth. She was never reported missing.
The abuse came to light when the girl reported it first to a minister she knew, then to police. Hopkins was found guilty of murder, sodomy, rape, incest and sexual abuse. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Date: December 4, 2004; July 28, 2008
Location: Jackson, Alabama; Mobile, Alabama; Wadley, Georgia; New Orleans, Louisiana Read More
Posted: September 3, 2014 by clmccracken
Siblings of Andrew Wells
Andrew Keith Wells, 20, sexually assaulted 8 of his 9 siblings. His parents, Brian and Janelle Wells, knew about the abuse and did nothing to stop it. Andrew Wells had been homeschooled and had only a fifth-grade education, as well as “numerous mental issues.” His younger siblings were all being homeschooled at the time of his arrest.
The abuse came to light when Wells walked into the Burlington police station and confessed to having molested his siblings for the past eight or nine years. He also confessed to possessing a large amount of child pornography.
Brian and Janelle Wells were each charged with two counts of child endangerment and accepted a plea agreement to avoid prison time by agreeing not to contact their minor children for five years in exchange for two years’ probation. Andrew Wells pleaded guilty to sexual abuse, lascivious acts with a child, and incest, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Date: February 24, 2014
Location: Burlington, Iowa Read More
Last Updated: November 8, 2019 by clmccracken
24 children of Paul and Paula Dunham
Paul Dane Dunham and Paula Lee Dunham had 9 biological children and adopted 15 others, including 8 from the Philippines who were obtained through disrupted adoptions. The other 7 children were obtained from private adoption agencies—the Dunhams were not licensed foster parents in Stearns County where they resided. In 2002, 9 of the children were homeschooled. The 15 children who were still minors in late 2008 were removed by social services due to rampant sexual abuse among the siblings.
In late 2005, two of the adopted children admitted to having consensual sex with each other. The Dunhams responded by segregating the boys from the girls and putting locks and alarms on the doors. Then in September 2007 the Dunhams adopted a teenage boy who had previously sexually abused his sister and was prohibited from having contact with younger girls. More abuse came to light in December 2008 when one of the Dunhams’ children reported sexual abuse to a neighbor.
Two of the Dunhams’ biological children—Eric Lamar Dunham, 20, left, and another son who was a minor tried as an adult—were found guilty of first degree criminal sexual conduct, and one of their adult adopted sons—Romnick Charael Dunham, 20, right—was found not guilty of the same crime after the victim refused to testify. No charges were filed against the Dunhams, who moved to Florida.
Date: December 2008
Location: Sartell, Minnesota and Holdingford, Minnesota Read More
Posted: September 3, 2014 by clmccracken
Rainbow Lord, and 2 siblings
Yahweh Lord (born c. 1983), Rainbow Lord (born c. 1985), and Angel Lord (born c. 1988) were abused by their father, John Lamont Davis (who also went by “Rajohn Lord”), their mother Carrie Lee Davis, and Faye Alice Potts, who lived with the Davises. “The boys were schooled at home, but not under any official home-schooling program. Potts taught them English and math.” In spring 1991, 6-year-old Rainbow ate a piece of drywall and became sick, perhaps due to a beating. As the Davises’ extreme religious beliefs were opposed to medical care, they did not seek treatment for Rainbow. After he died, they burned his body.
Yahweh and Angel grew up isolated from the outside world. They were starved, beaten with a “rod of correction”, and sometimes chained to their beds. When they were rescued, they did not know how to eat an apple and they were severely underdeveloped, with “wasted muscles that [made] it difficult for them to walk.” The boys were not allowed to speak unless they were reading from the Bible, were not allowed to use the bathroom, and were only allowed to shower under a cold hose every few months. They were never seen by a doctor.
The abuse came to light in October 2000 when Yahweh called 911. After the boys’ rescue, Yahweh changed his name to Jerry and Angel changed his name to Michael. Jerry was diagnosed with schizophrenia and sadly was murdered in 2003 not far from the group home where he was living.
The Davises and Potts were charged with “two counts each of torture, felony child abuse involving great bodily harm and false imprisonment.” After Rainbow’s remains were discovered, they were also charged with his murder, and John Davis was also charged with raping a “15- or 16-year-old girl in January 1995.” Following these charges, Davis committed suicide in his cell. Carrie Davis pleaded guilty and was sent to a mental institution, and Potts pleaded no contest and was sent to prison.
Date: October 14, 2000
Location: Twentynine Palms, California Read More
Posted: September 3, 2014 by clmccracken
Son of Christopher and Trina Pope, and 8 siblings
An 8-year-old boy was starved and chained to a bed for a year by his parents, Christopher Shawn Pope and Trina Pope. The boy’s grandmother, Wanda Zavala, knew about the abuse but did nothing because she believed he “was possessed with evil spirits.” The boy’s 7 siblings (ages 10, 9, 6, 4, 3, 20 months and 8 months; Trina Pope was pregnant with her 9th child) were not similarly abused. The boy had previously attended school, “but his father had withdrawn him because of what the father contended were discipline problems and he was being home-schooled.”
The boy was not released even to use the bathroom, and by the time he was found chained to the bed rail the soiled mattress had been removed and he was sleeping on the floor. He also “had some injuries on him,” according to police. The boy weighed 51 lbs. when he was rescued after child services received a tip in April 1999. The other children were not removed until July when the Popes were finally arrested—the police had tried for three months to speak with the other children, but “the parents would not let them speak with police.” Social services had previously been called to the house in May 1997 when the Popes left their children at home to go see a movie.
Christopher and Trina Pope were found guilty of child endangerment and sentenced to 18 months and one year in prison, respectively. Zavala was charged with a misdemeanor.
Date: April 12, 1999
Location: Pasadena, Texas Read More
Recent Posts
Archives
Categories
Website Menu
Post Categories