Left: Joseph Turner. Right: Sarah Pombert (Douglas County Sheriff’s Office).
A Georgia couple is behind bars after they allegedly made their 3-year-old son live in a dirty shed without any running water or electricity for nearly a month.
Joseph Matthew Turner, 35, and Sarah Elizabeth Pombert, 34, stand accused of second-degree cruelty to children. According to an arrest warrant from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Turner and Pombert made the boy live in a shed behind their home in the 7000 block of Judge Avenue in Douglasville, which is some 20 miles west of Atlanta, for roughly three weeks.
Turner and Pombert caused “cruel/excessive, mental/physical pain” to the boy by keeping him in a “dirty living space in a shed without running water or electricity, and left the child unsupervised, unbathed, and unclothed with criminal negligence.” The alleged neglect occurred between May 1 and May 22.
Cops filed the charges on May 29 and arrested the couple on June 2, per court records.
Local ABC affiliate WSB spoke to neighbor Matthew Govoni who said the shed burned down over Memorial Day Weekend, which is what sparked the investigation. Govoni said “there was a huge fire with explosions” that destroyed the shed. The warrant did not detail the fire nor how investigators discovered the alleged abuse of the boy who was not injured in the fire.
Govoni said the couple lived in the home for about 10 years and were not the best of neighbors. He was not shocked by the allegations.
“With the lifestyle they live, I’m not surprised by any of that, really,” he told WSB.
The neighbor said he feels bad for the boy.
“I’m saddened for them and the child, but I mean, for the child, I hope they can get to a place where they can be helped,” he said.
As of Sunday, both Turner and Pombert remained in the Douglas County Jail. It’s unclear if they have a lawyer.
