Woman who starved stepdaughter sentenced to prison

A Carnation-area woman, who isolated and starved her stepdaughter until the girl weighed just 48 pounds at the age of 14, was sentenced Friday afternoon to three years and five months in prison.

The sentence was far below what the victim, now 15, had asked the judge to impose on her stepmother, Rebecca Long. The girl sought a sentence of 11 years: "One for every year she made me feel ashamed of myself and abused me."

Long, 45, was arrested last year after authorities went to the home she shared with her husband to check on the then-14-year-old girl. Jon Pomeroy, Long's estranged husband, was also arrested and has since been sentenced to three years and five months in prison.

Earlier this fall, Long entered an Alford plea to a charge of first-degree criminal mistreatment. In the plea, Long, did not admit guilt but acknowledged a jury would likely convict them at trial.

While prosecutors sought a high-end sentence of more than three years in prison, Long's attorney asked that she be released into mental-health treatment, without serving prison time.

King County sheriff's deputies discovered the malnourished girl Aug. 13, 2008, after they were called to the home at the request of Child Protective Services. The girl was only 4-feet-7 and weighed just 48 pounds when she was found.

Investigators say that Long allowed the teen only half a Dixie cup of water a day and supervised the girl's showers and toothbrushing so she could not sneak a drink. The girl said once she was so thirsty she drank from the toilet but was caught.

The girl, who is not being named to protect her identity, attempted to testify when her father was sentenced in September, but broke down in tears. In a letter she wrote to the judge before Pomeroy's sentencing, the girl said that she was deprived of a normal childhood because her father allowed himself to be manipulated by her stepmother.

"My whole point here is the fact I felt Rebecca was manipulating dad to believe I was Satan and that he wanted to believe it," the girl wrote. "That he would believe such a thing was the heartbreaking part to me."

Defense attorney Robert Wayne said that Long has battled mental illness for years and suffered abuse at the hands of Pomeroy, the girl's father.

Because of Long's "fragile" mental state, Wayne had earlier asked Superior Court Judge William Downing to allow her to skip a portion of the sentencing hearing. In court Friday morning, Long told Downing that she was afraid things would be said in court that would cause her to "freak out" and be "disruptive."

Downing agreed to the request and Long remained in a jury room attached to the courtroom when her mental health was discussed during the Friday afternoon sentencing hearing.

Her former stepdaughter, who is now living with a foster family with her stepbrother, was in court during the hearing.

Their foster father, Dwight Thompson, said the girl is attending high school, participating on the swim team and doing well.

She now weighs 98 pounds and is almost 5 feet tall.

Information from The Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com