The 61-year-old father and the 39-year-old mother of nine Monroe-area children taken into state custody last month were charged Thursday with multiple counts of child abuse by neglect, child neglect, child sexual abuse and enabling the sexual abuse, according to LeFlore County District Court records.
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A search of the couple’s property for the body of an infant girl believed to have been buried there in August 2010, shortly after one of the couple’s teenage daughters gave birth, has not yielded remains, District Attorney Jeff Smith has said.
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According to information filed with the charges, the couple is accused of withholding proper food, shelter, clothing, hygiene and education from their children, ages 3-17. The father is accused of having sexual intercourse with three of the children from Dec. 30, 2009, through Oct. 20. The mother is accused of willfully allowing the father’s activity, despite the children having told her more than 10 times that their father was having sexual relations with them.
According to affidavits filed by a District Attorney’s Office investigator, the investigator, other officers and Department of Human Services officials first sought to interview the family on Oct. 20 in regards to their association with Marty Ray Hester, 52, of Heavener. Hester, the owner of Computer Helper in Poteau, was arrested Oct. 18 and charged with aggravated possession of child pornography and two counts of lewd or indecent proposals or acts to a child under age 16. Investigators allege Hester had thousands of child-porn photos on his computer equipment. Hester has pleaded not guilty and is being held at the LeFlore County jail. He is scheduled for a sounding docket court appearance Tuesday.
In the parents’ case, according to the affidavit, the parents at first “whisked” the children away from investigators, then agreed to allow them to speak to some of the children, but only with the mother present.
According to the affidavit, the children told them it was not all right to tell if someone hurt them.
Investigators found the family living in filthy conditions in a 30-foot trailer, the affidavit states. A house on their property had no heat and was full of trash and debris. The parents said they were unable to live in it for that reason.
The District Attorney’s Office investigator said the yard was so littered with trash that it was difficult to walk around without stepping on it.
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According to the affidavit, the children were filthy, appeared small and undernourished. Their clothing was dirty and fit poorly. They were infested with lice. They told investigators they mostly ate noodles and sandwiches.
In interviews over the next several days, officials found that although the children reported that they were home-schooled, most did not know the alphabet, and most could not count to 20.
One teen told investigators her father had been having sex with her for at least 10 years. She told investigators she’d witnessed her father raping her sister recently, according to the affidavit. According to the affidavit, the mother told investigators the two children told her of the sexual abuse, but she did not intervene.
Another child alleged the father had excessively physically disciplined two siblings. The children also alleged lack of medical treatment.
According to the affidavit, five of the children had been born at home and were not sufficiently immunized.
According to records obtained by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the family has lived in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Colorado, Texas and Arizona in the past 17 years. According to the affidavit, the children said they regularly traveled by camper to various campsites in Arizona and Arkansas.
The investigator stated he’d spoken with the father’s ex-wife, who alleged he’d molested two of their children.
According to an Associated Press report, incest charges in Montgomery County, Kan., were dropped in 1993 against the father when his daughters did not appear in court to testify.