Raymond Thurmond Has Kept His Family Locked Up Since 2005

[Lizard]

Lavonia, GA - Raymond Daniel Thurmond, 36, was arrested today and charged with rape, first degree child abuse, and false imprisonment after it was discovered he has kept his wife and four children locked in a filthy single-wide trailer since 2005.

The oldest child, now 14, had been allowed to attend school up until the 2nd grade. None of the others have ever been to school. All four children are undernourished and underweight, and one has a serious medical condition that has not been treated.

Thurmond did not allow his wife to clean, and photos of the interior of the trailer

showed thousands of roaches and roach dirt covered every part of every room. They crawled in and out of drawers, cupboards, and furniture.

Old pizza boxes were stacked in one corner of the living room with dozens of empty plastic soda bottles strewn about on the floor.

In the kitchen, counters were covered in stacks of dirty dishes and old empty cans of food. Bags of garbage were strewn about the house, mixed in with dirty clothes and other trash.

When Thurmond began an extramarital affair, the wife escaped with the children.

http://www.independentmail.com/news/...rs-police-say/

[guntotin' liberal]

He didn't ALLOW her to clean? What an evil mutha this guy is.

[Gilbrit]

“Mr. Thurmond decided he needed to carry on an extra-marital affair. When he did that, his wife escaped and took the children with her,” he said.

I wonder if the "girlfriend's house looked like his trailer.
My guess - No.
Don't think girlfriend will be staying around after this....Hee, Hee

[Dakota Valkyrie]

You gotta read the article Lizard linked to! What a rat bastard!

Neighbors in the trailer park where the family lived said they had no idea anyone occupied the single wide — one of dozens of mobile homes in a park where units sit within feet of each other.

What did he do? Gag them? Those poor people. I thought shit like this only happened "somewhere else". Wishful Thinking.

[brokenandtwisted]

Locking up family members appears to be a popular choice these days, eh?

Now, where is my brother...

[Deety]

So, escape was completely impossible until he started banging someone else? Sounds like mom wasn't too terrified of him.

I feel sorry for these kids. And I don't understand why they've removed two dumpster loads (so far) from a single-wide trailer. It sounds like the trailer was a dumpster, why not just throw the whole thing away?

[Unamused Cat]

So, escape was completely impossible until he started banging someone else? Sounds like mom wasn't too terrified of him.

Yah, I have to wonder about that too.

[nurseronda]

I have run out of thanks and am having a nervous breakdown again. I can't thank anyone.

[w8ng4msrgt]

I have run out of thanks and am having a nervous breakdown again. I can't thank anyone.

Send them some rep

[Silvahalo]

...
What did he do? Gag them? Those poor people. I thought shit like this only happened "somewhere else". Wishful Thinking.

Damn, just what i was thinking. Fucking freak!

[bogustoo]

Yanno, I keep promising the kids that I'll lock them up forever and ever, but I don't think I'd be able to handle the bickering...

[petrina]

two dumpsterloads?? from a singlewide?? were they 3x3 dumpsters? no one knew anyone was in there bc they were buried under the trash and the trash muffled the lights and sounds of living. i wonder why he found a gf - was she threatening to clean? bathe? cook?

its just bizarro-world

[Ruby]

Here's more detail from Fox. Freak. Those poor children: they had no say in this, and no frame of reference for what's normal or the fact that they could escape. What a fuckhead.

http://www.foxcarolina.com/news/17175728/detail.html

[celtic friend]

Here's more detail from Fox. Freak. Those poor children: they had no say in this, and no frame of reference for what's normal or the fact that they could escape. What a fuckhead.

http://www.foxcarolina.com/news/17175728/detail.html

I'm wishing really bad things on this scum. She should have ran when he went out and grabbed himself some pizza.

[nurseronda]

I'm wishing really bad things on this scum. She should have ran when he went out and grabbed himself some pizza.

Or when he went to work about two or three years ago.

[SoUncool]

http://www.independentmail.com/news/...o-frightened-/

Interesting editorial about this case.

The circumstances that have been made public are textbook: An abuser needs to feel “in charge.” He (or she) makes all the decisions. An abuser will humiliate his victims. If you are told often enough how worthless you are, you begin to believe it.

An abuser will isolate you, increasing your dependence on him. According to the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project: “He may keep you from seeing family or friends, or even prevent you from going to work or school.” And abusers will threaten, will try to frighten their victims. His power is greater than yours, he will say. No one will believe you.

Why didn’t she leave? Why did the wife continue to subject her children to neglect? Why live with a man who does this to his family? These questions may be answered someday, but it’s equally possible that there is no answer. Unless you are the one who is so cowed, so beaten down, so afraid of the ramifications of making your spouse angry, you cannot understand. Most of us can’t. We proudly and angrily state what we would have done and said, how we would have fought back, if not for ourselves, for our children. Strong words for something most of us cannot even begin to comprehend. We can only be grateful we likely never will.

And we can surely spare a little compassion for a woman who did — and the innocent children who had no choice.

[RobbieSue]

And the judge delayed the decision on whether to allow bond for Thurmond. It's been over a month since he was originally arrested. Why hasn't he already had a bond hearing? I don't get that?

http://www.independentmail.com/news/...ly-goes-court/

[Dakota Valkyrie]

When Ida Thurmond and her four children showed up at a Hartwell safe house one night in August 2008, she said she and the children had been held prisoners in a filthy trailer for three years.

Now Thurmond is behind bars, charged with multiple counts of first-degree child cruelty and false imprisonment.

Thurmond told the safe house employees more than a year ago that she and her children had escaped in the night to get away from her abusive husband, Raymond Daniel Thurmond. Ida Thurmond was taken to the Lavonia Police Department, where she told her story of sexual abuse, starvation, imprisonment and fear.

But the Lavonia police investigator handling the case, Mechelle Collins, said Ida Thurmond’s story never sat right with her.

“I suspected her early on, because I had questions that she couldn’t or wouldn’t give me an answer to that were common-sense questions based on the evidence that I had,” Collins said. “That led me to continue to investigate and send some evidence to the crime lab and once we came up with those results, I knew I had proof that I could arrest her.”
[...]

The indictment says that Ida Thurmond willfully deprived the children of food to the extent that their health was jeopardized.

At the time of Daniel Thurmond’s arrest last year, Ida Thurmond said she and the children were all kept against their will in the trailer, were not even allowed to go to the store and ate only what fast food Daniel Thurmond brought home.

But now, authorities say they believe she was equally responsible for holding the children captive and depriving them of food during the weeks Daniel Thurmond was away working as a truck driver.

When authorities found the children last year, they were malnourished and disheveled and had never been to school. The children were ages 14, 13, 12 and 9.

All four children were turned over to Ida Thurmond’s custody, although the two oldest were not her biological children, and Daniel Thurmond was arrested.

Once the children were in a new home with Ida Thurmond, agents with the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services continued to monitor their progress. But after several months, social workers determined the children were not receiving adequate care.

In December 2008, Ida Thurmond lost custody of all four.

Her arrest, however, didn’t come until late Wednesday afternoon after she went to Carnesville to visit with her two biological children at a Wendy’s restaurant on Ga. 145.

Ida Thurmond was living with a new boyfriend in South Carolina, and Collins said authorities needed to wait until Thurmond’s scheduled visit with her two children.

Collins said she waited for Thurmond to finish the visit and, with the help of a Franklin County sheriff’s deputy, stopped Thurmond’s vehicle as she was leaving and took her into custody.
[...]

The indictment of Ida Thurmond will likely change things for Daniel Thurmond, but Lavender said he’s not yet sure exactly how it will affect how he tries his case against Daniel Thurmond.

“It may affect some of the charges against him,” Lavender said. “I’ve not yet entered into any plea negotiations with his attorney. That’s not to say it won’t happen, but I’ve not at this stage.”

Daniel Thurmond’s trial is set to start Oct. 26.

http://www.independentmail.com/news/...e-imprisonmen/

Well, THAT explains a lot.

[skeptik]

Hey, is that Henry Rollins?

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Raymond Daniel Thurmond pleaded guilty to four counts of cruelty to children. He was sentenced to serve two years in prison and eight years on probation.

Other charges against him — four counts of false imprisonment and one count of rape — were dropped.
[...]

Superior Court Judge John Bailey gave credit for the 14 months he has already served, which means he could go free in August 2010 or earlier.

Thursday’s plea and sentencing came after investigators said new evidence showed that Thurmond’s wife, Ida, had a significant part in the confinement and deprivation of their four children.
[...]

http://www2.wspa.com/spa/news/local/...ct_case/28206/

[MadeaBecBec]

Sam Harbin is the owner of Pointe South Mobile Home Park on Ga. 17 in Franklin County. Harbin said the Thurmonds rented a trailer there for three years before he evicted them in 2005.

Pointe South is a tidy community of single and double-wide mobile homes sitting on larger-than-average, well-manicured, yet sparse lots.

Some of the homes are privately owned, others are rented.

Harbin makes it his business to see to it that the community grounds and property around the homes are kept clean and in good order.

So when he noticed a bad leak coming from under the Thurmond's rented trailer he asked to come in to find the cause, he said.
"He (Raymond Thurmond) didn't want me in there," Harbin recalled. "He would always come out and talk to me outside. Finally, after three warnings that I filed with the police, he very reluctantly said he would let us inside," he said.

Harbin and his maintenance crew suspected something was very wrong.

"His children were never seen on the playground outside with the other children. We suspected something was going on in there that wasn't good and I notified DFCS and asked them to come out."

When the case worker arrived, Harbin went with her to the Thurmond trailer and saw the children for the first time.

"They looked like they had just had fresh bath, but they were pale and malnourished. They were very compliant around Mr. Thurmond. I believe he warned them to keep their mouths shut," he said.

The case worker made a report, according to Harbin and left. No action was taken that he could see and no one from DFCS ever came back.

Harbin called DFCS a second time.

"I told them they needed to send someone with more experience this time, but nothing came of it," he said.

When the case worker came, Harbin got a firsthand look at the condition of the inside of the house. "It was in deplorable condition. I don't think I could describe just how bad it was."

When DFCS failed to respond the second time, Harbin decided to evict Thurmond. "He was continually late on his rent," he said.

According to Lt. Collins, she's traced the Thurmonds to three separate trailer parks, including one in Toccoa, and she has discovered a pattern.

"There's some similarities in their living conditions from one place to another," she said.

Inside the Trailer (Not as filthy as I would've thought based on descriptions, still dirty, though)
http://www.independentmail.com/news/...ed-family-lav/

I hope the children are doing well, now, receiving love, food, warm shelter, an education and socializing! It must've been horrible for them, living like this for a very long time, because a 14 year old isn't easily contained, unless that is all they know. I also hope that Mr. Harbin realizes that he did everything he could to help these children and Mr. Harbin isn't feeling any guilt, in this.

Basically, Thurmond will serve about as much time as he held the children prisoners. Hopefully, all he gets will be bread and water, during his stay...

[MadeaBecBec]

Thurmond’s attorney, Rich Brannon said he’s been working to prove his client’s innocence from the beginning.

“I’ve stayed on this thing for 14 months, since he first got arrested. I’ve talked with all the DFACS workers, social workers, the district attorney. I sent letters and faxes. I never let up trying to get them to believe me that she was the most responsible. Common sense tells you when she claims she’s been a prisoner for three years and then Daniel tells her he’s going to leave her for another woman, she makes it to the police department in less than ten minutes,” Brannon said.

At the end of the hearing, Lavender said the Department of Family and Children’s Services had requested Daniel Thurmond not have any contact with his children once he’s released.

“Bob wasn’t involved in the investigation, I was. I was the one who brought the evidence to light that brought about the arrest of the mother. I don’t think he’s read the transcripts of the DFACS hearings. The whole idea is to reunite the family,” he said. Bob is DA Lavender

Thurmond will finish out his sentence at the Franklin County Detention Center where Franklin County Sheriff Stevie Thomas could release him even earlier than next August for good behavior. He was sentenced under the first offender rule, which means once his probation is over, all charges will be erased from his record.

“I hope he gets out early. As his lawyer, I think he’s paid his dues,” Brannon said.

http://www.921wlhr.com/news.htm
Mmmm, Seems Ol' Ida was butt hurt instead of an actual prisoner of Thurmond...

[biteme]

Inside the Trailer (Not as filthy as I would've thought based on descriptions, still dirty, though)
http://www.independentmail.com/news/...ed-family-lav/

I hope the children are doing well, now, receiving love, food, warm shelter, an education and socializing! It must've been horrible for them, living like this for a very long time, because a 14 year old isn't easily contained, unless that is all they know. I also hope that Mr. Harbin realizes that he did everything he could to help these children and Mr. Harbin isn't feeling any guilt, in this.

Basically, Thurmond will serve about as much time as he held the children prisoners. Hopefully, all he gets will be bread and water, during his stay...

People take note, you can't call CPS during happy hour they will not come out. If they do tear themeless away from their beer they will, just fake a report and get back to happy hour as fast as possible, there is no supervision in that agency, they'll never come back, no follow through. Administrators don't notice they're to busy playing golf at the club and campaigning for whoever gave them the perk job.

[biteme]

Inside the Trailer (Not as filthy as I would've thought based on descriptions, still dirty, though)
http://www.independentmail.com/news/...ed-family-lav/

I hope the children are doing well, now, receiving love, food, warm shelter, an education and socializing! It must've been horrible for them, living like this for a very long time, because a 14 year old isn't easily contained, unless that is all they know. I also hope that Mr. Harbin realizes that he did everything he could to help these children and Mr. Harbin isn't feeling any guilt, in this.

Basically, Thurmond will serve about as much time as he held the children prisoners. Hopefully, all he gets will be bread and water, during his stay...

I can't believe he asked for a qualified DFCS worker to be sent out this time
Unbelievable, seems everyone knows how bad the agency is except the administrators

[carolinablue]

two years in prison and 8 on probation for ruining the lives of 4 children. yeah, that'll really punish him. those poor kids, even with the best help available (and we know how often the state furnishes THAT), they will never have normal lives. i hatethat monster and even more i hate that fat cow-faced freak.

[skeptik]

"Qualified DCF Worker" is an oxymoron.

[cubby]

So true, Skeptik, so true!!

And a big pat on the back to the officer who looked beyond the first report to gather evidence on the "mother". I find the "mother" really more at fault cause like everyone has said she gathered up enough energy to "escape" when she thought "her man" (*GAG*) was stepping out on her but not when the children were starving!!

[badfish76]

Someone above said the trailer didn't look that bad in the pic but I watched an attached video on one of the articles and it said that those pics were AFTER three dumpster loads had been removed from the home.

They are both assholes and should be lit on fire.

[MadeaBecBec]

Someone above said the trailer didn't look that bad in the pic but I watched an attached video on one of the articles and it said that those pics were AFTER three dumpster loads had been removed from the home.

They are both assholes and should be lit on fire.

Ahhh, I see, this was after some cleanup was done! Well then, I have changed my mind, besides finding out that Raymond was a trucker and would be gone for a day or two at a time, Ida could've been cleaning during that time, what was he gonna do when he got home and saw the house was clean? I mean really?
I agree, though, Raymond shouldn't have been foolin' around and left those kiddos alone with Ida, and certainly they both should have had the children in school....There's a whole lot of fail, in this story....

[badfish76]

Ya know, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my child but sometimes I love her even more when she is out shopping with grandma. That whole absence make the heart grow fonder thing.

HOW could any human stand to be with another human non-stop for 4 YEARS?!?!?! Let alone immature ones that will drive you up the wall sometimes. FOUR OF THEM?!? Don't get me wrong I am not an anti-social freak, but everyone needs to be alone sometimes. It is good for you.

Thanks, but no thanks. My kid gets to have her own life too. It's generally better for everyone that way.