Anna Nicole Farmer, 12, was tortured, starved, and beaten to death by her stepfather, James Kevin Yost. Her mother, Bridget Nicole Farmer, knew about the abuse and did nothing. Anna was homeschooled and was singled out for abuse—Bridget Farmer’s other three children (ages 9, 8, and 20 mo.) were not abused.
Yost kept Anna locked in her room so that she had to use it as a toilet. Anna was forbidden from speaking with her siblings or her mother. She was not allowed to eat with the family and was forced to eat standing up at the counter, limited to five minutes per meal, and fed only sardines, beets, and kidney beans. Yost punished Anna by forcing her to take cold showers and beating her with a board. He did not allow Bridget to seek medical treatment for Anna’s injuries. There were also signs that Anna had been sexually abused shortly before her death. Anna’s education consisted of accompanying Yost to his work at a flea market and copying verses from the Bible.
Anna’s death was caused by multiple blunt force trauma to her abdomen. The beating that killed her may have been administered up to 48 hours before her death, which occurred during another beating. After killing Anna, Yost went on the run. On his orders, Farmer waited 8 hours to notify authorities that her daughter was dead.
Yost was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Farmer was charged with two counts of injury to a child but took a plea deal to serve 10 years of probation, surrender all her parental rights, and testify against Yost.
Date: December 29, 2003
Location: Pearland, Texas Read More
Posted: June 12, 2014 by rachel
LoReyna Barea
LoReyna died of physical abuse and lack of medical care. Investigators responding to the scene found her covered in cuts and bruises, her body severely dehydrated and underweight to the point of being emaciated. LoReyna’s legal guardians, her aunt and uncle, said they had no idea where her injuries came from and insisted that she was a happy child. Yet the forensic pathologist who conducted the girl’s autopsy told detectives that “There was no doubt in my mind that if she (LoReyna) had been seen by a doctor, she would still be alive.” LoReyna’s aunt and uncle were arrested and charged with child abuse and LoReyna’s four brothers were put in foster care.
LoReyna and her siblings were homeschooled.
A complaint was called in to social services prior to LoReyna’s death, alleging that the girl was being isolated by her guardians and that her behavior was “not normal.” However, this complaint was screened out because it did not allege abuse. A review prompted by several high profile child abuse cases found the screening out of this tip a violation of state law, as the standard is “suspected abuse.”
Date: March 9, 2007
Location: Evans, Colorado
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Posted: June 12, 2014 by rachel
Milton Baker III
7-year-old Milton Baker III was beaten to death by his mother’s live-in boyfriend, Fred Johnson. Johnson beat Milton regularly over the last year of his life, and his maltreatment of the boy began three years before his death. Over time, Johnson’s beatings broke each of Milton’s ribs. In the end, Johnson shattered Milton’s skull.
Milton did not attend school and was instead homeschooled by Johnson. Milton’s final beating took place when he failed to read all of the words in a children’s book during a reading lesson.
Johnson was convicted of murder. The prosecutor initially pushed for the death penalty but was unable to prove that the murder was planned ahead of time. Milton’s mother, Latina Stallworth, was charged with child endangerment.
Date: August 10, 2006
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio Read More
Posted: June 12, 2014 by rachel
Alexander Perkins and 1 Sibling
Alexander Perkins was 5 years old when he died of encopresis, a bowel disorder that develops as a result of children’s refusal to go to the bathroom. His parents, Leon Chad and Krista Perkins, failed to follow the prescribed treatment, leading to his death in their home. Alexander’s older brother, aged 7, suffered from the same disorder and spent several weeks in the hospital after Alexander’s death. Neither of the boys was potty trained, both were severely malnourished, and the family’s house was filthy and stunk of diarrhea and vomit. The boys’ mother, Krista, had a chronic illness and often did not wake until afternoon. The boys’ bedroom had a lock on the outside and could not be opened from the inside.
Five months before Alexander’s death, the boys’ uncle called in a tip, reporting that the children were wearing diapers, were small for their ages, and were “supposedly” being homeschooled. Social workers made a call to the local elementary school to ensure that the boys were registered to be homeschooled (they were) and then determined that there was “no information available from reporter of abuse and neglect as defined by law.” They neither visited the family nor saw the children.
Alexander’s brother was placed in foster care, where he was quickly potty trained and began to grow and gain weight. Leon Chad and Krista Perkins were not charged in Alexander’s death, partly because of a coroner who sought to block the investigation. Instead, they were given a number of requirements to meet in order to regain custody of Alexander’s brother.
Date: August 7, 2010
Location: Cripple Creek, Colorado Read More
Posted: June 3, 2014 by clmccracken
2 children of Arthur and Lori Allain
Arthur Thomas “Tommy” Allain, Jr. and Lori Allain starved and imprisoned their foster daughter, age 10, and physically abused her half-brother John Edwards Jr., age 14. The girl also described being sexually assaulted by her foster father and one of the Allains’ six biological children; however, no charges were filed.
Edwards and his sister were removed from their biological mother Sonya Guntor in 2000. Guntor was a substance abuser and the children had behavioral problems. The state then placed the children with the Allains, who were friends of Guntor. Both Allains had prior criminal convictions. Reports of abuse by the Allains began soon afterwards: five calls came in to the child abuse hotline between September 2001 and September 2002. An investigation by children’s services substantiated the maltreatment reports, but instead of removing the children, children’s services drew up a safety plan with the Allains.
Between January 2001 and May 2004, the Allains kept the girl locked in a bedroom with a double-keyed deadbolt. She only had a bucket to use for a bathroom. The Allains withheld food from her as punishment, claiming that she had an eating disorder that would cause her to vomit. When she was rescued, the girl weighed 29 lbs.
The abuse came to light when her brother John Edwards Jr. ran away from home, having been punched in the chest for giving her food, and reported it to the authorities. At that time, the Allains said, they had been homeschooling her for two years. Both Allains were charged with aggravated child abuse and child neglect and sentenced . In 2008, John Jr. filed a civil suit against the Allains.
Date: May 18, 2004
Location: Brooksville, Florida Read More
Posted: June 2, 2014 by clmccracken
Desirae, Deondra, and Melody Brown
Desirae (b. 1979, right), Deondra (b. 1980, center), and Melody (b. 1984, left) Brown were sexually abused by their father, Keith Scott Brown, who was also their business manager. The girls were part of the piano chamber ensemble The 5 Browns and were homeschooled, primarily by their father, while their mother Lisa was in charge of their musical training.
The abuse began in Houston, Texas and continued when the family moved to Utah in 1991. The charges stem from abuse of two of the girls which began in late 1990, when they were ages 11, 10, and 6, and continued until late 1992. One of the girls was also abused from March 1997 to March 1998, when they were ages 18, 17, and 13. The judge who presided over the case said that there could have been many more charges.
The abuse came to light when the girls reported it to authorities in late summer 2010 after learning that their father planned to manage child musicians again. In February 2011, Brown accepted a plea deal and the girls announced the abuse publicly. Brown pleaded guilty to sodomy on a child under 14 and two charges of sex abuse of a child. He is now serving 10 years to life in prison. The girls went on to create a foundation for survivors of child sexual abuse.
Date: February 17, 2011
Location: Utah County, Utah Read More
Posted: June 1, 2014 by clmccracken
Anna Farmer
Anna Nicole Farmer, 12, was tortured, starved, and beaten to death by her stepfather, James Kevin Yost. Her mother, Bridget Nicole Farmer, knew about the abuse and did nothing. Anna was homeschooled and was singled out for abuse—Bridget Farmer’s other three children (ages 9, 8, and 20 mo.) were not abused.
Yost kept Anna locked in her room so that she had to use it as a toilet. Anna was forbidden from speaking with her siblings or her mother. She was not allowed to eat with the family and was forced to eat standing up at the counter, limited to five minutes per meal, and fed only sardines, beets, and kidney beans. Yost punished Anna by forcing her to take cold showers and beating her with a board. He did not allow Bridget to seek medical treatment for Anna’s injuries. There were also signs that Anna had been sexually abused shortly before her death. Anna’s education consisted of accompanying Yost to his work at a flea market and copying verses from the Bible.
Anna’s death was caused by multiple blunt force trauma to her abdomen. The beating that killed her may have been administered up to 48 hours before her death, which occurred during another beating. After killing Anna, Yost went on the run. On his orders, Farmer waited 8 hours to notify authorities that her daughter was dead.
Yost was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Farmer was charged with two counts of injury to a child but took a plea deal to serve 10 years of probation, surrender all her parental rights, and testify against Yost.
Date: December 29, 2003
Location: Pearland, Texas Read More
Posted: May 21, 2014 by clmccracken
Michaela and Caleb Parker
Kimu (left) and Blair Parker starved and medically neglected their three children, Michaela (age 11), Caleb (age 9), and Zion (age 3). The children were homeschooled.
The Parkers were fundamentalist naturopaths who practiced homebirths and shunned vaccines and medical checkups. The children were fed a vegan diet and the Parkers set time limits for the children’s food consumption, fearing obesity. When their daughter Aaliyah (called Lily, pictured) died at age 3 in 2001 after a series of seizures, police found the death suspicious but declined to prosecute when the Parkers explained that epilepsy ran in the family.
The abuse came to light in 2005 when Zion began to have severe seizures and Kimu took her to the emergency room. When doctors saw her emaciated state, they insisted on examining the other two children and deemed them all malnourished. The children were removed to a foster home where they quickly gained weight despite maintaining their vegan diet—they merely increased their portion size. Both Parkers were convicted on three counts of child abuse. Kimu was sentenced to 30 years in prison and Blair was sentenced to 15.
Date: April 23, 2005
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Read More
Posted: May 20, 2014 by clmccracken
6 children of Lora and Aubrey Thomas
T.T. (a 15-year-old boy), G.T. (a 14-year-old girl), B.T. (a 14-year-old boy), and E.T. (a 13-year-old girl), were tortured, starved, and sexually abused by their adoptive parents, Lora (or Laura) and Aubrey Thomas, and their older brother Garrett, the Thomases’ biological son. The Thomases also had at least two other older biological children, who did not report being abused.
The Thomases became foster parents to six children in 2001. In 2003, two of the children were removed because they had been abused. The four remaining children were homeschooled.
The Thomases withheld food from the children as punishment. The children were fed bar soap and cayenne pepper and were forced to eat their own vomit if they got sick. They were forced to eat horse manure as punishment for failing to clean the horse pen. They were paddled regularly with a paddle called “Mr. Awesome” and then made to lie in an ice bath to reduce the swelling. They were forced to perform sex acts with Aubrey and perform oral sex on each other in exchange for food. The girls in particular were singled out for abuse and were punished for bed-wetting by having their soiled underwear stuffed into their mouths. Garrett Thomas also forced the children to touch his genitals.
The abuse came to light when one of the girls reported it to a counselor in a psychiatric facility where she had been placed. Lora was charged with four counts of felony child abuse and Aubrey was charged with three counts of felony child abuse and one count of enabling child abuse, also a felony. Garrett was charged with child abuse.
Date: October 14, 2011
Location: Sperry, Oklahoma Read More
Posted: May 20, 2014 by clmccracken
3 children by Iliana, Rogelio, and Tim Archuleta
10-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, and their 8-year-old brother, were tortured, imprisoned, and starved by their adoptive mother, Iliana Archuleta, and her brother-in-law Rogelio Archuleta (center). The children’s adoptive father, Tim Archuleta (right), knew about the abuse but did nothing to stop it. The Archuletas’ two biological children, a 13-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy, lived in the home but were not abused. The Archuletas also operated a day-care facility, though none of their charges were abused. The Archuletas had previously been foster parents to two children who were removed in 2007 due to abuse and neglect.
The three children were placed with the Archuletas in 2008 after being removed from their biological parents for abuse and neglect. They attended public school for the 2008-2009 school year, but one of the children kept missing school and child services worked with them through the rest of 2009. The children began attending school again in spring 2010 and continued through the 2010-2011 school year. After they were formally adopted in spring 2011, they did not return to school for the 2011-2012 school year. Iliana told authorities that she was homeschooling them at her day-care facility. One investigator reported that the Archuletas “would say they were taking them to a charter school or were homeschooling them…That’s all they have to say. They don’t have to prove it.”
The children were forced to bite each others’ toes and ears as punishment and then pour bleach into the open wounds. As a result, the girl was missing part of her ear and the boy had an infected toe which had turned into a serious bone infection. There was a lock on the refrigerator and the children had lanugo and other signs of severe malnourishment. They were forced to eat sticks of butter until they felt full, and forced to eat their vomit if they threw up. The children were also made to sleep upright in their parents’ bathtub with the sliding glass door closed and a bucket to relieve themselves. Iliana periodically made them wear diapers and locked them in her office at the day-care facility.
The abuse came to light when Iliana brought the 8-year-old to the hospital after he had a seizure. Doctors noticed the boy’s injuries and called the authorities. Each of the Archuletas was charged with three felony counts of injury to a child.
Date: October 13, 2012
Location: San Antonio, Texas Read More
Posted: May 20, 2014 by clmccracken
2 children of Erin and Jennifer Pickel
Erin and Jennifer Pickel abused and imprisoned two of their five children, a 15-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, starting in 2008. There were also two younger children and one child over 18 in the home. All the children were homeschooled.
The children, who were both adopted (the boy in 2005 and the girl in 2006) when the family lived in South Carolina, were periodically locked out of the home and forced to stay in the backyard playhouse, which had no electricity or running water. When they were taken into protective custody they were covered with cuts and bruises.
The abuse came to light when an anonymous tip brought the police to the door. The Pickels were each charged with five counts of felony child abuse and five counts of felony child neglect.
Date: May 29, 2013
Location: Goldsboro, North Carolina Read More
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