South Dakota couple fed crystal meth to minors, zapped them with electric cattle prod for misbehaving
SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA: A couple has been charged with a host of child abuse crimes on Wednesday, June 3, for allegedly feeding four children crystal meth and also zapping them with a “hot shot” electric cattle prod if they misbehaved. The Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office said Lance and his wife Crystallynn Long face 14 counts, including aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, abuse or cruelty to a minor, and distributing marijuana and a controlled substance to a minor.
According to reports, the abuse and torture of the youngsters, which includes three boys aged 17, 13 and 11, and a 15-year-old girl, repeatedly happened over several years at their home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The 46-year-old Lance described as a “cruel and evil person” by the girl also allegedly showed one of the four children pornography and ran over them with a three-wheeler. Lance reportedly told the eldest boy that he was giving the illegal substance to him and his siblings to “help them learn about drugs so that drugs wouldn’t ruin their lives later on.” The relationship between the children and the couple has not been disclosed, though, as reported by Metro.
Apart from feeding their children crystal meth, the accused couple also reportedly gave the kids weed, and would shock them with the cattle prod “to get them to obey commands or if they weren’t listening.” When the children were interrogated, at least three of them told officers that the cow control tool “had been used on them numerous times in the last three years.”
The alleged abuse of the Longs came to light after one of the boys joined the Marine Corps and told his recruitment sergeant about the issues he faced at home. After listening to his problems, the sergeant contacted one of the teenager’s relatives, who then reported the abuse to police. When deputies reached the home, they found one of the children “excessively nervous” while being questioned.
The reports also claimed that as the investigation into the alleged abuse case began, the Long couple fled to Oklahoma, but were arrested there, and now facing a number of charges. They have been put in jail ahead of their next court appearance.
In a similar incident, a young boy was allegedly sexually assaulted by an Alabama couple using an object. The victim’s genitals were also allegedly cut by the pair with a knife. Police said Amy Nicole Lovell and Justin Anthony Jeffries Jr. are facing charges for sexually abusing and torturing a child under the age of 12.
The Cullman County Sheriff's Office said Lovell, 29, and 26-year-old Jeffries were arrested on May 22 for allegedly committing the crimes. In a statement, the officials said that a "short investigation," revealed that the pair had committed "multiple sex crimes" to the minor. Apart from this, the Sheriff's Office reportedly did not release any other details on the alleged crimes due to the "graphic nature" and also because of the involvement of a kid. Also, the relationship between the child and the couple was not known.