A vile couple allegedly put three orphaned children through years of “prolonged physical and emotional abuse” in their West Virginia “house of horrors,” according to the sheriff.
Erica Lynn Sayre, 45, and her husband, Clifford Gale Sayre, 46, tormented the three children about the deaths of their biological parents when they weren’t regularly beating them bloody or starving them in their home in Evans, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
The children told investigators that over several years they were repeatedly hit, strangled, deprived of food and water, denied access to the bathroom — and even had dirty cat litter dumped in their beds and dog feces put on their personal belongings, Sheriff Ross H. Mellinger said.
They were even told they’d be killed if they reported the abuse, according to the sheriff, who called it “a real-life ‘House of Horrors.’”
“I can’t go back to that home,” one of the visibly emotional kids told investigators — while another said she “just wants a normal life,” according to the sheriff.
Erica was behind most of the physical abuse — causing “excessive bleeding injuries,” by hitting them with household objects — while her husband allowed it, according to officials.
One of the kids told investigators that “mom hits us and Gale lets her,” the sheriff said.
If the children had any conflicts with Erica, she would force them to run barefoot on a gravel driveway as punishment.
One child recalled that Clifford restrained her hands while Erica forcibly cut her hair with a razor blade, leaving her with visible injuries.
The children were covered in scars consistent with their accounts, which also corroborated one another, Mellinger said.
The children were removed from the home.
Erica is charged with three counts of child abuse resulting in bodily injury and three counts of child neglect creating risk of injury. Her husband is facing three counts of child neglect resulting in bodily injury and three counts of child neglect creating risk of injury.
“The outlined findings of the investigation are deeply troubling and underscore the importance of reporting suspected child abuse, as the children were all living in a real-life ‘House of Horrors’ with the adults in their lives that should have otherwise been protecting them from such occurrences and conditions, not creating them,” Mellinger said.
It’s not clear when or how the children’s biological parents died or if they had any relation to the Sayres.
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