JACKSON COUNTY, W.Va. (TCN) — A couple is facing multiple felony charges in connection with the alleged mistreatment of three minors in their care, according to authorities.
According to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the investigation into 45-year-old Erica Lynn Sayre and 46-year-old Clifford Gale Sayre began when authorities received information that they were allegedly emotionally and physically abusing three children in the household.
Law & Crime reports the children were orphans and ranged in age from 12 to 17; they had reportedly been living with the couple for several years.
Per the sheriff’s office, the children allegedly experienced “years of disturbing mistreatment,” including “being repeatedly struck, strangled, deprived of food and water, denied bathroom privileges, dumping soiled cat litter in their beds and dog feces on personal items, and forced to run barefoot on a gravel driveway as means of punishment for any conflicts with Erica [Sayre].”
The sheriff’s office continued, “The investigation also revealed allegations of the children being struck with household objects causing excessive bleeding injuries, forced to place a soiled sock in their mouths, and having their hair forcibly cut. One child described being struck in the head with an electronic device, causing a bleeding injury for which she was denied medical treatment. One of the children was threatened to be killed if she contacted Child Protective Services. During interviews, one of the children became visibly emotional and declared, ‘I can’t go back to that home.’”
Clifford Sayre allegedly declined to intervene as Erica Sayre allegedly harmed the children, the sheriff’s office said. In a forensic interview, one of the children alleged that the couple tormented and harassed them about their dead parents. The children’s interviews corroborated one another’s, as did the physical evidence, leading authorities to seek charges. All the children were removed from the home.
Both Erica and Clifford Sayre are facing three counts of child abuse resulting in bodily injury and three counts of child neglect creating risk of injury, the sheriff’s office announced on Oct. 26.
According to the New York Post, it is unclear if the children are related to the couple.
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