Mary Heath & Sekoa Aiona Abuse Children
October 16, 2008 by impqueen
Mary Matilda Heath and Sekoa Aiona
Eagle Mountain, UT – A nine-year-old girl saved her brother’s life on Tuesday evening when she made a twelve-foot drop from a second-story bathroom window. The little girl was found outside the home, naked except for panties and some newspaper she was using to try to cover herself and keep warm. A neighbor called police, and now the little girl and her 8-year-old brother have been rescued from the home they shared with their aunt, Mary Matilda Heath, and Heath’s boyfriend, Sekoa Aiona.
When officers arrived at the home in a nice subdivision of Eage Mountain, they found the little girl standing in the backyard of the house, trying to keep warm with the newspapers.   The little girl, who was very thin and malnourished, said that she had climbed out of the bathroom window and fallen the twelve feet to the ground. She was bruised and had minor injuries, but brushed them off and told officers that she was tired of being locked in the bathroom. Her little brother, she said, was still in the house and couldn’t get out by himself.
Special Victim’s Unit officers and sheriff’s deputies who were on the scene quickly ascertained that no adults were home. After knocking on the door with no answer, the officers went into the house. There, they found the little boy inside the locked master bath.  He was unconscious and near death, covered in bruises and painfully thin – so thin that officers initially listed his age as six. Turns out, he had his eighth birthday two days before his rescue. He, too, was clad only in his underwear with no blankets or pajamas. There was no food in either bathroom, and it appeared that the children had been held in separate bathrooms a lot of the time.
Both children were immediately taken to a local hospital. While there, the little girl mentioned that her four year old sister was out with her aunt and Aiona.
It took five hours and three police agencies, but after 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, officers located Mary Matilda Heath, 33, and Sekoa Sosene Aiona, 37. Heath told police that yes, she was the kids’ aunt, and that she had been given legal custody of the children in 2007.  She readily admitted that she’d left the older two kids in separate bathrooms while she went to Salt Lake City. She even admitted not providing clothes or blankets for the victims.
But it was all good, Heath said, because she was just going to get some stuff done. While her charges were hungry, cold, and (in the boy’s case) dying, Heath got her car tagged, then went to dinner and a football game.  She left the four-year-old with a sitter in a neighboring town.
Aiona told officers that he and Heath often used a belt to hit the two older children. According to the arrest affidavit, Aiona admitted that food was often withheld from the nine and eight-year-olds, and that the children routinely slept in the bathrooms at night.
Both children are currently still in the hospital. The little girl’s condition is improving, but the little boy remains in the pediatric intensive care unit. Officers say that he would not have survived the night without the actions of his sister – Mary Heath almost got home to a dead kid. All the children are now in the legal custody of the state of Utah. Since their hospitalization and the release of the little boy’s birthday (which he spent naked in a bathroom), area residents have been bringing presents to the hospital for both children.
Mary Matilda Heath and Sekoa Aiona were arrested and taken to the Utah County Jail. They are currently charged with two counts of second-degree felony child abuse apiece, although more charges may be forthcoming. Heath and Aiona are each being held on $25,000 bond.
SoUncool is not cool with this case in our forums.
8:55 am on October 16th, 2008
A perfect picture of a BITCH and an ASSHOLE! Need to put their pictures in Websters under the definition of both. Hope you both die a horrible, horrible death! (Oh, yea, a parenting tip for you dumbasses out there that think disciplining by withholding food is okay. It is acceptable to withhold dessert after a nutrious meal….that’s is okay. PROVIDED the child has had his or her 3 (THREE) meals a day. Just a little tip there…ASSHOLES!!!!)
8:58 am on October 16th, 2008
well for a start, they are also held in separate location! hopefully naked and without blanket and food.
What i dont understand is: Do these assholes have access to news media?
Have they ever read about being caught, sooner or later, for abusing little kids? Why would they trade their “nice suburban” home for a fuckin jail cell? and WHY WHY WHY would anyone harm little kids?
That is a notion that will always escape me, and i thank God for that.
I just pray the little boy will pull through. Kudos to the little sister.
Any words on the condition of the 4 yrs old?
10:09 am on October 16th, 2008
this is sad,this FUKING BITCH treats these kids worse then ppl treat their animals.. they should leave this bitch and her boy friend in below 0 tempertures with no clothes and not even as much as a carrott stick,until they either freeze are starve to death…
10:37 am on October 16th, 2008
I can’t believe they would leave two kids in rooms with evil bathtubs. We all know how many times “bathtubs” beat little kids to death – just look at some of the other articles!
10:41 am on October 16th, 2008
I really hope the little boy makes it, that little girl must of been so brave to jump out of that window…I don’t know if I could of done it. I guess your will to survive kicks in. How sad for them, all that suffering they had to endure. I hate being cold, but just imagine laying on a cold bathroom floor, starving and pretty much naked, it just breaks my heart
10:44 am on October 16th, 2008
My God! This is heartbreaking! I really hope the little boy pulls through and those two f’wads get what they deserve and then some!
11:00 am on October 16th, 2008
And of course, that obese fuck has never missed a meal or snacktime in HIS life.
11:05 am on October 16th, 2008
That little girl is SO BRAVE!!! She may have saved her little brother’s life! Also, “good job” neighbor for calling the police! How on earth can people be so mean? How???
11:22 am on October 16th, 2008
As far as I know, the four year old child was unharmed. The abuse seemed directed only at the two older children.
11:52 am on October 16th, 2008
It seems those bathtubs had battered the kids some already. I’m putting my bathtub in my yard, filling it with flowers and letting it serve time as a flowerbox.
As for this story itself, how did this woman get custody — what were the kids taken away from? Don’t they have any family that cares?
12:23 pm on October 16th, 2008
Yeah what is up with that? And when children are taken away from their parents aren’t child services supposed to check on them now and then at least?
It doesn’t look the fuckwad perps had any food withheld from them does it? Sick, twisted asshats. I hope they rot and starve in prison. And I hope those children never have to see their fat ugly faces ever again.
God bless them both. I hope the little boy will be ok and That little girl? She is the real hero in all this!
1:25 pm on October 16th, 2008
$ 25,000 BOND?!?! What is wrong with these people in the legal system?? If they wer adult victims these a**holes would be in solitary with NO bond!!
1:48 pm on October 16th, 2008
These stories just break my heart ! My big question is WHY ? Are they just totally sick, or was there a reason for this abuse?? They didn’t harm the 4 year old ! Were the 6 and 9 year old ugly, bad, disfigured?? WHAT?? These two inhumane assholes are disgusting.. I hope they get their just reward..
1:57 pm on October 16th, 2008
You just can’t ask why or you’ll go crazy. Us “normals” can’t comprehend doing something as sick as this and just think it’s everyday life. Luckily they got out because maybe the 4 year old was next (starting to get old enough to talk) who knows. Very sad!
1:58 pm on October 16th, 2008
I don’t understand that either. Where are the bio parents? Can they possibly worse than these two morons? Just because one is a relative does not make them capable of being parents.
BTW, before we adopted our last two kittens, we had to have an extensive background check. Yes, for two kittens. With our contract, we had to agree to home visits, proof of vet care, among other things. For kittens. We almost felt like we were trying to adopt a child.
When I read about children who are turned over to relatives, is there no follow-through? Cheeky?
And only $25,000 bond?
2:27 pm on October 16th, 2008
Sad to say, but yes, the biological parents can be worse than these two. These people were cruel and inhumane – I treat my husband’s dog better than they treated these kids (and I do not particularly like that little ankle-biter). That being said, there are many children who suffer even worse fates at the hands of “mothers” and “fathers”.
2:28 pm on October 16th, 2008
Yeah, you have to wonder – THIS was better than being with the biological parents? They must have been REAL winners.
4:58 pm on October 16th, 2008
When children are placed in relative care they are typically supervised for about six months here in Florida, but there are two caveats to that “rule” even if the laws are similar in Utah.
First, that is assuming the state was involved in the custody arrangement. It may have been a private arrangement in which case the state wouldn’t even have it as a case. For example, if the mother was deployed and she gave the aunt custody, it would have been recorded in family court, but that doesn’t necessarily mean child services would be involved at all. Or it could have been a simple arrangement such as a notarized statement that was not recorded in the family court.
The second is that the supervision the state provides is pretty minimal even if it was involved in the custody transfer. In Florida it’s called VPS, which stands for Voluntary Protective Services. (It’s not usually really voluntary though, because many times if you don’t agree when asked to volunteer, and if they have legal sufficiency, they will file a dependency motion which may not remove your child from your home, but if granted, gives the department the right to make decisions on behalf of your child.) Anyway, VPS usually involves a case plan which the parent has to comply with, but since the aunt wasn’t, at that time, the offending parent, there probably wasn’t a case plan. That boils the supervision down to a monthly visit, and if the Family Care Manager had no concerns, as he or she probably didn’t at that point or the children wouldn’t have been placed with the aunt, it may not have even been unannounced visits.
6:06 pm on October 16th, 2008
that is absolutely awful.. talk about desperation.. and yes.. very brave…
i agree. the system is so tragically skewed… kitty this chick that lived on my street in clarks summit, she got caught with 20 bags of heroin.. her bail was 50,ooo dollars.. i don’t get that… 25,000 is peanuts…
7:20 pm on October 16th, 2008
What do you want to bed, mom is a real charmer too?
///////
Police track down biological mother of two abuse victims
By Sara Israelsen-Hartley
Deseret News
Published: Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008 3:21 p.m. MDT
PROVO — Investigators have tracked down the biological mother of two bruised children who spent hours locked in bathrooms without food or clothes.
“The mother has been contacted and we’re in the process of obtaining further information,” said Utah County Sheriff Lt. Mike Brower.
Police learned of the two abused children Tuesday night after a neighbor in Eagle Mountain spotted a 9-year-old girl wandering around in her backyard on Raptor Road, wearing nothing but underwear and newspaper in an attempt to keep warm.
The neighbor called 911 and responding officers from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office and the Utah Valley Special Victim’s Unit learned that the young girl, bruised and visibly underweight, had climbed out of her bathroom prison and fallen 12 feet to the outside ground.
She also told them her little brother was still locked inside another bathroom.
Officers made entry into the home and found the boy curled in a fetal position on the floor, in such poor condition that he appeared to be dead.
Both children were rushed to the hospital where the boy remains in “pretty rough shape,” Brower said.
Another 4-year-old sibling was dropped off with friends in West Valley for the evening and was not injured, Brower said. All children are now in state custody.
The child’s aunt and legal guardian, Maria Heath, 33, was located later that evening and arrested. She told police she had gone to Salt Lake for dinner and entertainment and locked the kids in the bathroom before she left.
Heath had gained custody of the children about a year ago.
Her boyfriend, Sekoa Aiono, 37, was also arrested after police say he told them they routinely beat the older children with belts, withheld food and made them sleep in the bathroom.
Both are in the Utah County Jail on $25,000 cash-only bail.
7:36 pm on October 16th, 2008
Wow. I just bought some new comforters for our family and really didn’t think too much of it except for the hassle of the expense. And now I keep reading stories of little children in the forum and the FP who are sleeping in nothing but their undies. Oh, my heart… and the guilt. WTF is WRONG with people???
10:31 pm on October 16th, 2008
Shitheads!
Is this bitch actually smiling in this mugshot?
%$$(#((#
As for that little girl, what an awesome, spunky little lass.
11:49 pm on October 16th, 2008
I am NOT trying to be “cold” here AT ALLL,but we all know some things come with a grain of salt on this site…so please don’t take my head off,when i pose the question… …If/When “punishing” people,its really the best idea,to have them sleeping where they are MORE likely to get in your way,like in the middle of the night,when you really need to use the toilet…What did they do,just trip over the damn kids?…Or so used to them being there,that they could walk around them,in the dark,half asleep…I dunno…don’t people usually try to make annoyances get more “out of the way” rather than MORE SO in the way of things constantly?!… …I guess this is how the minds of twisted fuckz like this work,they run in a way that i am to NEVER understand…Because i am not psychotic!…Bah… …And much respect to that tough ass little girl for throwing her self out that window,Most adults have trouble jumping out windows,even when there is a fire,and NO choice…BAH
11:52 pm on October 16th, 2008
This is ment to say…”IS IT really the best idea…”
12:19 am on October 17th, 2008
God, just imagining either one of those people coming at me with a belt is enough to have me shaking a bit. Poor little babies … I will never understand people like them who think there’s nothing wrong with treating children like this! In her statements that bitch is so blase about the horrible things those kids had to go through, it makes my stomach turn!
12:59 am on October 17th, 2008
Are you kidding me? $25,000 bond? You’d only have to post 10% to get out. Hey! I would post their bond for them! I’d even bring them to my house for “dinner”. Oh, and by the way, State of Utah, no need to worry about these two any more. No costly trial and no appeals.
1:02 am on October 17th, 2008
I just reread this and wanted to throw up.
1:42 am on October 17th, 2008
yeah it is pretty nasty….
1:44 am on October 17th, 2008
yeah it kind of looks that way…cunt
4:52 am on October 17th, 2008
I was actually thinking something along the same lines… I don’t understand how it is easier to starve a child to death (and worry about hiding your actions and their beat up bodies) than it is to just give them a pb&j and be done with it.
I don’t think it was about laziness here… it was systematic torture and it came from pure evil and hatred. I’m just glad that they got out of there alive.
*BTW, I’m new and it’s very nice to meet all of you !
5:47 am on October 17th, 2008
Jerry in Utah, yes do invite them over and i will help you in any way to provide NO FOOD NO WATER NO BLANKETS and we can slowly watch them die>>>> don’t mean to sound that harsh but hey what is good for the goose…..
Anyway, thank god the little girl escaped and saved her siblings what a hero and she had enough torture inher little world. My prayers to all the children and i will pray for the little one still inthe hospital, for the so called guardians…. ROT IN HELL,hey they will be warm there….. I hope they never get out on bond and pray that the three children will have a adoptive parents who will provide them love and peace of mind. My prayers are only with the CHILDREN
F..ck the two rotten bastards above they can DIE
6:16 am on October 17th, 2008
welcome
6:53 am on October 17th, 2008
Awwww… thanks Blu ! I’ve been keeping up with your situation and I want you to know that I wish you and your family the best !
9:21 am on October 17th, 2008
Sorry, this one still pisses me off so bad. Can’t let go of it! BUG EYED BITCH!!!
12:14 pm on October 17th, 2008
Just what I was thinking, Leemouse.
Rory, that would make sense, but you know what? They probably liked tripping over them. Gives them a chance to “accidentally” kick them. And then punish them some more for being in the way.
Sick fuck is as sick fuck does….and these are 2 sick fucks.
2:50 pm on October 17th, 2008
So where is the bio-mother??? Homeless, f’d up?,, I want to know why these two have custody, (not to meantion money for housing and food) is that the reason this POS took them in?? How the state can give these pricks monetary gains and never check to see if they are being cared for is ONE of the big problems in this country, and I wish I knew how to fix it..
Maybe we could start the DD department of defenseless children. I’ll bet everyone of us would make sure we checked on our caseloads, with a 9 mm in tow… Our taxes would probably go down and all the little children would be safe.. jmo
5:28 pm on October 19th, 2008
thank you
10:11 pm on October 19th, 2008
The real mom located, where in the Pen or no wait she got caught crossing the border and expedited back to mexico. keep your fucking legs closed you bitches.
eh, out entertaining … i want to see the before the mug shot photo when the LE first notified her ass what whaz up at the house.
unreal what a creep – they will need to airlift him to get him thru the door he is extra wide… and a non relative – isn’t there other charges for him for not seeking medical attention.
says cash only isn’t that the same as 250,000 at 10%
I’ve truely got to be wondering, how did that little girl know that “Now is the Time” If she hadn’t jumped when she did, the hospital states the boy would not of made it thru the night.
and as far as the 4 yr old it was only a matter of time until they done her the same way… maybe she’s not verbal yet
my ex treated his g/f’s youngest better because he was first to call him dad. could be the aunt bonded with the younger one and the other two remember their real parents and said time and time again you cant tell me what to do your not my mom/dad.
Did she mother any of her own kiddo’s ?
FAT FUCKERS sicko WASTE OF AIR!
welcome Jo
1:27 am on October 20th, 2008
Some more info on the kids condition, cops trying to help them. God, I would like to fry that fat fuck boyfriend in his own grease and leave the crazy bitch with that to eat for a month or two, see how she likes it.
xxxxxxx
Child abuse victims get some gifts
Janice Peterson – Daily herald
In the aftermath of a severe child abuse incident in Eagle Mountain, officers working the case discovered a new tragic detail: The 8-year-old boy suffering in the intensive care unit had his birthday only two days before the case was reported. “We’re pretty sure he spent that birthday sitting in the bathroom, half-naked, locked in there,” said Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy.
A group of officers and human services workers who met for a debriefing on the case acted quickly for the boy, who they thought was dead when they found him, passing around a collection for an action-figure fund. Tracy said officers were touched by the boy’s condition, as any person would be, and wanted him to have a few toys for his birthday. “I guess he was pretty happy with them,” he said. The boy and his 9-year-old sister were discovered Tuesday night after a concerned neighbor called about the nearly naked girl standing in the yard, covering herself with a newspaper.
Officers arrived to find the malnourished girl, weighing 38 pounds, who had climbed out a bathroom window and fallen 12 feet to escape. The girl told police her younger brother was still in the home, locked in another bathroom, and they soon entered the home to find the boy curled in the fetal position, barely alive. Tracy said the 43-pound boy had a pulse of 46 beats per minute — so faint that responding officers could barely feel a pulse at all.
Both children were taken for malnutrition and multiple physical injuries to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City, where they are still recovering. “These pictures of the children will break your heart,” Tracy said. Since being removed from their home, the children have warmed up slightly to detectives, though Tracy said they continue to be reserved and cautious. Both are doing better, though the boy is still unable to eat any solid food. Tracy said the boy’s condition makes it clear his life was saved by his sister and an observant neighbor. “His body is so emaciated that he was throwing up,” he said. Lt. Mike Brower said the boy has regained some color, but he is not out of the woods yet.
Because of his condition, detectives were unable to talk to the boy for more than a day and a half. Despite their reservations, the children have done better in their new circumstances. “They have indicated that they are happy to be out of that environment,” he said. The children had been living with their aunt, Mary Heath, and her boyfriend, Sekoa Aiono. Police say Heath gained custody of them from her sister about one year ago. Heath and Aiono were booked into the Utah County Jail on two charges of child abuse with a $25,000 bail.
Melissa Stout, a detective who has been working with the children, said both children suffered greatly at the home, and the boy still has not been able to walk. Stout said the idea to buy him something for his birthday was a natural instinct felt by many involved with the case. “I don’t even think he got to wear clothes or eat food on his birthday,” she said. Stout said she took a camouflage Batman action figure and a Hulk on a four-wheeler to the boy, and a new book for the girl, who is teaching herself Spanish. The Department of Child and Family Services also brought the pair socks and underwear and the emergency-room doctor brought them each a toy as well. Stout said the toys and other services help the children to be more open to adults who want to help.
“These children, they feel like they can’t trust anyone or anything,” she said. Stout said the mother and grandmother of the children have been contacted. She could not comment on the status of guardianship, but she said the grandmother has been the legal guardian and flew in from Florida to see the children. Although Stout said it is important to help the children feel more comfortable with officers and hospital staff, there must also be a balance so they do not think they are being given toys in order to talk or give certain testimony. Brower said people involved with the children may naturally want to help, but officers also have the duty to remain impartial and obtain every bit of information on every side that is important to the case.
“Obviously we’re going to be professional in the duties in our investigation of any crime and take in every aspect of the crime,” he said.
1:59 am on October 20th, 2008
38 and 43 pounds??? That just breaks my heart. Poor babies, I want to stuff them full of food and cuddle them up.
5:10 am on October 20th, 2008
yeah my thoughts one lb per inch 3ft 11 in = 47
5:18 am on October 20th, 2008
Oh that is Fucking nice – what a witch – these poor kids passed around like a fricken soccer ball
Teach these kids 911………
3:57 pm on May 25th, 2009
Just wanted update: both asshats were sentenced to prison and the little girl won an award for being a hero and saving her brother’s life. I will attempt to paste that link and there are links to the other articles regarding the sentences these two child abusers got in that article.
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=6485490
4:00 pm on May 25th, 2009
This is what she said:
“I saved my brother’s life, and at least he’s not dead because my mom would be crying a lot,” Katiana said.
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