11 children found in squalid house .

[pantsonfire321@aol.com]

11 children found in squalid rural house

Missing father faces neglect, other charges

By Adam Folk| Staff Writer

Saturday, August 02, 2008102 commentsPRINTShareEmail

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HEPHZIBAH --- Deputies in Richmond and Burke counties are searching for an Augusta man after finding 11 of his children living in a home without electricity or running water.



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Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

Burke County Sheriff Greg Coursey said there was no food in the house except for two cans of jelly, and the children were found in ragged clothes.

Click photo for optionsPolice made the discovery on Spring Hill Church Road in rural Burke County on Thursday afternoon while looking for suspects in the theft of a chainsaw, according to Burke County sheriff's Capt. Frankie Parker.

Inside the home, they found the children, ages 9 months to 18 years old, along with their mother. The children were wearing ragged clothes, and aside from two cans of jelly, there was no food inside, according to Sheriff Greg Coursey.

"She said they were eating jelly sandwiches and had eaten some chicken before we got there," Sheriff Coursey said.

The home is located off a dirt road with few neighbors nearby. Investigators said that had the children not attempted to steal from their neighbor, who lives across a field full of tall grass, police might never have known about the conditions at the home.

After checking with the local school system, investigators said none of the 11 children has ever attended school. Capt. Parker said the mother, 38-year-old Christine Long, claimed to be teaching the children from home, but there are no records of her registering with the Burke County school system nor were there school books in the home.

"The first girl could write her name and date of birth," said Capt. Parker, who handed out a pad and pens to the kids in order to get their information. "The second girl couldn't figure it out, and it just started going downhill from there."

Investigators say they believe the children's father, Jeremy Long, lives in the 2000 block of Wrightsboro Road in Richmond County. He is wanted on charges of child abandonment and child neglect, with more charges to come, Capt. Parker said.

Aside from the 18-year-old, the children have been taken by the Department of Family and Child Services and are now in foster care. Their mother is staying in a local motel and also could face charges, police said.

A slew of cats and kittens, along with an old mutt, were the only remaining tenants as investigators were photographing the home Friday afternoon. Without any electricity, the only light came from the open flume in the fireplace and holes in the walls and ceiling -- just enough to see several crayon drawings of Spider-Man lining the wall.

Two brown refrigerators were empty in the kitchen, balanced on a patchwork floor of exposed plywood. A casette tape from DFACS labeled Childproofing Your Home: Keeping Kids Safe and Healthy , was visible in the backyard along with countless old tires and empty buckets.

The conditions described by police are criminal, said Charles Jackson, the chairman of the Department of Educational Leadership, Counseling, and Special Education in the Augusta State University College of Education.

"I've never heard of anything like this," said Dr. Jackson, who holds a doctorate degree in educational psychology. "I've read literature about feral children as an undergrad, but nothing recent."

The children likely have poor reading, math and social skills; malnutrition and health, dental, psychological and emotional issues, he said.

"There are a whole host of concerns," Dr. Jackson said. "I would like to know where the authorities have been."

It's not unusual for there to be uneasiness associated with home-schooling, but a situation in which children are without school for so long is more extreme, he said.

"You're talking about intellectual deprivation," Dr. Jackson said.

Sheriff Coursey said there is no record of the family contacting DFACS nor were they on any kind of government assistance. Dena Smith, a spokeswoman for DFACS, confirmed that the family had never been a part of the their system.

Burke County school Superintendent Linda Bailey said a counselor and social worker will work with the family as the children enter school.

"We're going to do everything we possibly can do to make the transition smooth," Mrs. Bailey said.

Staff Writer Greg Gelpi contributed to this article.

Reach Adam Folk at (706) 823-3339 or

[pantsonfire321@aol.com]

I thought things like this only ever happened in movies...it's very said so very very sad :-5

[mrsK]

There have been a few cases of this here as well in the past month.

They took the dogs away & left the kids

I don't understand that one.:-5

[shelbell]

This is so sad. People like this don't deserve to have kids.

[Nomad]

11 squid children found in house .



Ill be damned.

[Betty Boop]

fuzzy butt;943556 wrote: doesn't it make you sick?

we had a case here where they found 21 children between two houses undernourished and only found out about it when the the mother eventually took one of the children to the hospital where it was discovered the child was malnourished. Makes me sick .

I know you guys in the UK are against the taking away of children because they do it at the drop of a hat . But here we have the opposite problem. child services turn up and have to ring a supervisor before making any decision. We had one mother who decided to go off on a holiday and left her teenage daughter in charge of six kids. she left an uncooked chicken in the fridge and a packet of biscuits in the cupboard............*silent scream* . Child services did nothing!!! they organised a food package for the kids and left. You want to know why? Because the kids are half casts and the mother has tried to sue child services after last time.

The police who were originally called to the scene were beside themselves, couldn't believe that child services did nothing. . there is sooooooooo much help mothers can obtain here but some refuse to use it . At the expense of their children.:-5


Fuzzy it's not quite like that here in England now. Whilst doing my Homestart course I learnt how bad things actually have to be before social services remove a child. It has been deemed in this country that keeping th family together is a top priority no matter what. Even to the point of children growing up with heavy drugs users that are so high all day they are unable to care for themselves, let alone any offspring they may have.

[pantsonfire321@aol.com]

fuzzy butt;943556 wrote: doesn't it make you sick?

we had a case here where they found 21 children between two houses undernourished and only found out about it when the the mother eventually took one of the children to the hospital where it was discovered the child was malnourished. Makes me sick .

I know you guys in the UK are against the taking away of children because they do it at the drop of a hat . But here we have the opposite problem. child services turn up and have to ring a supervisor before making any decision. We had one mother who decided to go off on a holiday and left her teenage daughter in charge of six kids. she left an uncooked chicken in the fridge and a packet of biscuits in the cupboard............*silent scream* . Child services did nothing!!! they organised a food package for the kids and left. You want to know why? Because the kids are half casts and the mother has tried to sue child services after last time.

The police who were originally called to the scene were beside themselves, couldn't believe that child services did nothing. . there is sooooooooo much help mothers can obtain here but some refuse to use it . At the expense of their children.:-5


The systen here is an absolute joke :-5

A couple of years ago a neighbour of mine left her child (he was 2 and half) home alone ..she would drug him and go out to the pub . When the mother was eventually caught social services did bugger all .

They only took the child away from her after she was caught drunk in charge of him outside a hospital .

The police where called because she was making a scene and because she walloped a Police man she was arrested and then the child went into emergency foster care .

For a short time the child lived with the father until he was sent to prison for drug dealing so of course now the child is back with the mother. She's got another child (whos under a year ) but she still does it, goes out (not at night ) but around the shops and gets the older one to look after the younger one .

I have lost count of the number of times i've reported the bitch . I don't want to see those kids in care but she is a danger, and quite often drunk in the middle of the day .

A couple of weeks ago she was driving around uninsured and i again reported her but she seems to have nine lives .

Social services are a joke ...how many more kids have to die before they get their finger out of the a:mad::mad::mad::mad:

[southern yankee]

sadly, every so often. you will here of one of these cases.Or a child is tied to bed. Or kept in a cage or closet. There are some sickos out there:( Then ones who really would be great parents can't have kids. Life stinks sometimes:(

[southern yankee]

fuzzy butt;943944 wrote: YOu know yankeee? that's life ................that's how it works and that's the boundries we live in. Not great I'll admit. But you know? that's just how it is until we change it.:o yep, you are right. but i guess there is a reason for everything.