Calif: One of the worst child abuse cases I have read
Patty
two boys suffer from dwarfism because of the abuse.
Father: Son was uncontrollable
FELISA CARDONA
San Bernadino County Sun
RANCHO CUCAMONGA John Davis described his son Yahweh as an angry 17-year-old boy who tried
to kill his younger brother and longed to break out of his family home to use drugs and
live a life of crime.
In interviews conducted last week at West Valley Detention Center with Yahweh's parents
John and Carrie Davis the teen who called for help was portrayed as a boy turning into a
man who couldn't be controlled anymore.
"He wanted to go out there into the world and get into drugs," said John Davis, who also
calls himself Rajohn Lord. "That's what he wanted to do. If it wasn't for me, he would be
in juvenile hall already."
Instead, Yahweh Davis and his 12-year-old brother, Angel, are in the care of Child
Protective Services. They were found hungry and filthy on Oct. 14 with marks on their
bodies indicating they had been severely abused for several years.
The Davises, the two boys and a family friend named Faye Alice Potts were living on an
isolated compound in Wonder Valley, about 10 miles east of Twentynine Palms. Investigators
said the property was guarded by a pit bull and a German shepherd.
Yahweh described a decade of isolation and terror at the hands of his mother and father
and Potts, who babysat him for most of his life, prosecutors said.
While John Davis described a mischievous, calculating boy, San Bernardino County sheriff's
detectives said he was more child-like because of the alleged abuse he suffered.
Yahweh's mother, Carrie, agreed with her husband and said her son was a violent boy who
tried to kill himself twice.
"Yahweh cut his leg and he had a long scar there, but we didn't know about it until
recently," she said. "One time, Yahweh put his head through a glass window and tried to
kill himself. We didn't take him to a doctor because Rajohn stitched him up."
The Davises didn't take their children to doctors, school, the mall, movies or outside the
area of Wonder Valley.
"We didn't believe in doctors," Carrie Davis said.
"We didn't want them to watch violent movies. We wanted to keep them away from the outside
world," John Davis said.
The boys were schooled at home, but not under any official home-schooling program. Potts
taught them English and math, Carrie Davis said.
The only time Yahweh and Angel left their home was to take walks in the desert or to
practice martial arts in the back yard, Carrie Davis said.
Sometimes John Davis would play the guitar to Yahweh because the boy reportedly dreamed of
becoming a musician. He was supposed to learn the instrument from his father.
It was the Davises' lack of faith in doctors that led them to let their 6-year-old son
Rainbow die at home rather than take him to a hospital after he ate drywall.
Ten years ago, the boy "ate something out of the wall," became ill and died shortly after,
Carrie Davis said. His father cremated him and buried the remains near Copper Mountain in
Twentynine Palms.
"I miss him sometimes," Carrie Davis said.
"It was God's will," John Davis said. "It was his time to die."
Although Carrie Davis says they didn't believe in doctors treating their children, she and
her husband and Potts all took prescribed medication.
"We're all mental," she said. "I take Prozac and another medication because I get
depressed and I hear voices."
When asked if they ever considered medication for Yahweh to control his anger, both
parents said they should have considered it.
John Davis believes the child abuse and torture charges filed against him and his wife and
Potts were motivated by racism.
"They went after us because of prejudice," he said. "We are a biracial family and they
wanted to break it up."
John Davis said he believes the child abuse investigation focuses on him rather than his
white wife because he is black.
"They are trying to give me life and I didn't murder anybody," he said.
Sheriff's investigators said posters with references to marijuana were hanging around the
house, but Davis said all he had was a poster of reggae musician Bob Marley in his
bathroom.
Davis said he is sure his oldest son is sorry he called for help because he's probably
living in a stranger's home and misses his family.
Although Davis says he ran his home like a strict Southern Baptist, he never tortured his
children.
Clutching a Bible, Davis, who calls himself an ordained minister, said he's not angry at
God for his arrest.
"God's going to get me out," he said. "In the darkest hour, there is a light at the end of
the tunnel."
Patty
San Bernadino County Sun
October 19, 2000
FELISA CARDONA
JOSHUA TREE As the parents and aunt accused of torturing two boys appeared in Superior
Court on Wednesday morning, sheriff's investigators combed the desert for the remains of a
third boy believed to have died 10 years ago.
Two bone fragments were found where one of the suspects said the body of 6-year-old
Rainbow Davis was buried after he died.
Rainbow's parents, 53-year-old Rajohn Lord, also known as John Lamont Davis, and his
41-year-old wife, Carrie Davis, were arraigned Wednesday on charges of torture, willful
cruelty to a child and false imprisonment for abuse they allegedly inflicted on their two
other sons, 17-year-old Yahweh and 12-year-old Angel.
The torture charge carries a potential life sentence.
"To date, these are the most serious charges ever issued in the Morongo Basin in a
child-abuse case," said prosecutor Linda A. Root.
"Our filing in this matter is an expression of the gravely serious nature of the case and
the philosophy of this office toward the prosecution of child-abuse cases."
In charging the three, Root said she considered the alleged abuse was part of a "course of
continuous conduct."
The boys' aunt, Faye Alice Potts, 46, was charged with the same crimes for her alleged
role in the abuse.
On Saturday, the boys were taken from their home in Wonder Valley, east of Twentynine
Palms, and placed in the care of county Child Protective Services after they were found
filthy, with dog chains attached to their beds.
The home was surrounded by religious signs and symbols and guarded by a pit bull and
German shepherd.
Sheriff's investigators believe the dog chains were used to restrain the boys in an
abusive environment the children endured for most of their lives.
Judge James C. McGuire read the charges against the Davises and Potts during their
arraignments and issued not-guilty pleas on their behalf. The three said they could afford
their own attorneys.
When McGuire asked John Davis if that was his true name, he answered: "My name is Lord."
Late Tuesday night, one of the defendants told investigators where they might find the
remains of a third son that reportedly died 10 years ago, Root said.
The parents told investigators that 6-year-old Rainbow Davis was a sickly child they
buried in the remote desert 10 years ago.
When detectives questioned Yahweh and Angel Davis, they told of having a brother when they
were young, but it wasn't clear whether they remember what happened to him.
The Davises also have two adult daughters who already left home. The daughters had not
reported the abuse to the authorities, but were being questioned by detectives about what
went on in the household, Root said.
Investigators on Wednesday had not determined whether the bone fragments found in the
desert were human. A forensic examination could take up to five months.
Sheriff's detective Fred Rodriguez said the Davises and Potts lived in a home where
marijuana posters were hung on the walls and the children ate rice and bread. The compound
had running water and electricity, but the television was old and covered with dust.
Child Protective Service workers told detectives the boys were so hungry that when they
went outside and saw wildflowers growing, they started to eat them.
Sheriff's deputies said the children hadn't been away from home for years.
"When we took the children through the town of Twentynine Palms, they were looking around
like tourists," Rodriguez said.
Potts and John and Carrie Davis are expected to return to court on Nov. 1 for a
preliminary hearing, where a judge hears evidence investigators have compiled in the case.
The three were taken to West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga late Wednesday.
Their bail remains at $2 million.
Patty
A doctor says the brothers were suffering from the effects of profound abuse and stress.
By Guy McCarthy
The (Riverside) Press-Enterprise
JOSHUA TREE
When police asked John Davis about the size and weight of his sons in mid-October, Davis
said they were about the same size he was at their age.
Authorities said Tuesday that his 17-year-old son weighed 73 pounds after he was taken
from the Davis home last month.
Davis' 12-year-old son weighed 58 pounds, police and other officials said, citing an
evaluation of the boys by Dr. Claire Sheridan of Loma Linda University Medical Center. The
boys, Yahweh, 17, and Angel, 12, have been in the care of Child Protective Services since
authorities removed them from their San Bernardino County home on Oct. 14.
In addition to being malnourished, the boys suffered from a condition caused by stress and
profound abuse called "psychological dwarfism," Sheridan's report said.
Psychological dwarfism is similar to another condition known as "failure to thrive," in
that a child's growth is stunted and is usually accompanied by other developmental delays.
Psychological dwarfism is caused by severe childhood neglect.
John and Carrie Davis and another woman, Faye Potts, are charged with torturing the two
boys and a third boy who died in 1991. Defense attorneys entered not-guilty pleas for all
three defendants in a court hearing Tuesday in Joshua Tree.
Prosecutors said Tuesday that Yahweh and Angel want to change their names to Jerry and
Mike, respectively.
The boys told police they were held captive by their parents and Potts for "virtually all
their life," police said in an affidavit seeking a search warrant for the Davises' home in
Wonder Valley.
Police found the boys dirty and hungry on Oct. 14 after Yahweh called 911 to report he and
his brother were chained. Each boy had scars on his back, arms, stomach and chest,
consistent with apparent beatings, police said.
When police asked John Davis whether he ever punished his children, he told them he
spanked with a "rod of correction."
When they showed John Davis scars on the body of his 17-year-old son, Davis responded, "Ya
don't see anything fresh." He then quickly stated that the children must have done it to
themselves, police said.
Authorities said a search of the Davises' home on Raymond Drive turned up locks under a
mattress in the boys' bedroom, chains, rope, wire and a length of fabric.
They also confiscated a hinged martial arts weapon known as nunchukas; firearms, including
a rifle and two handguns; a can containing marijuana and drug paraphernalia; and a bag
containing pornographic magazines and videotapes.
Sheridan, a specialist in pediatrics, forensics and child abuse, evaluated the boys at
Loma Linda after the Davises and Potts were arrested, investigators said.
Both boys apparently never received medical or dental care, investigators said. Yahweh
suffered from chronic bronchitis, and both boys' teeth were in poor condition, Sheridan's
report said. Yahweh's back teeth were worn down by grinding, a symptom of great stress,
investigators said.
Yahweh's weight was that of an average 10-year-old, Sheridan's report said. His height --
4 feet, 11 inches -- was normal for a 12-year-old.
Angel's height -- 4 feet, 2 ½ inches -- and his weight were similar to an average 8
½-year-old's, Sheridan's report said.
Angel's head appeared oversized because his body was so underdeveloped, Sheridan's report
said.
Because the boys' physical development was hindered by stress and abuse, they are more
likely to attain normal growth now that "stressors have been removed" or reduced,
Sheridan's report said.
Sheridan could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Investigators discussed details of Sheridan's report after the three adults appeared in
court Tuesday morning in Joshua Tree.
Prosecutors have evidence that Potts kicked the third child, Rainbow, and John Davis hit
the child with a length of board on the day of the child's death.
Yahweh saw his parents burn Rainbow's body in a trash can, said Supervising Deputy
District Attorney Linda Root. John Davis told police he also burned the boy's remains in
their fireplace and tried to crush the bone remains with rocks.
Patty
Two boys' injuries appear to have come from being restrained and whipped, authorities say.
By Guy McCarthy and Jeanette Steele
The Press-Enterprise
WONDER VALLEY
Two brothers bear the marks on their wrists and the scars on their backs that support
their story to police: that their parents held them captive for years, chained in their
bedroom, authorities say.
Extensive scar tissue on their backs appears to have resulted from whippings, said San
Bernardino County sheriff's Sgt. Fred Gonzalez.
The boys' parents, John Davis, 53, and Carrie Davis, 41, were arrested Monday at their
Wonder Valley home on suspicion of torture, child endangerment and neglect. They deny
abusing their children.
"We haven't done nothing," John Davis said, sobbing with his wife in their living room
after they were hand-cuffed by deputies.
"God help us," Carrie Davis said before she stepped into a sheriff's vehicle.
The boys' aunt, Faye Potts, was also arrested Monday on suspicion of the same offenses.
Bail for the three adults was set at $2 million each. Officials said the high amount was
chosen to ensure that they will not leave the area.
On Saturday, the 17-year-old called 911 to report that he and his 12-year-old brother were
being kept locked in chains in their bedroom. About 40 minutes later, Potts called and
said the earlier call had been a prank, police said.
Deputies who went to the home found the boys "filthy, malnourished and underdeveloped,"
Gonzalez said. They also found dog chains attached to bed posts in the boys' bedroom. The
boys weren't allowed to take showers inside and were hosed off outside.
Deputies said that when they drove the boys through nearby Twentynine Palms, the brothers
looked around like tourists, as if they'd never been there before.
When deputies fed them, the boys said they hadn't had apples in years. They even ate the
seeds of the fruit, Gonzalez said.
The Davises and their sons lived on a dirt road east of Twentynine Palms. Shacks and
cabins in this High Desert area are separated by lonesome stretches of sand, cactus and
brush.
John Davis, a musician who was active at a local church, called himself Rajohn Lord. The
words "God," "God's Country" and "Lord's Ranch" have been painted on and around their
makeshift home.
The Davises named their elder son Yahweh Lord. The younger is Angel Lord. The boys were
born at home, and neither has ever been examined by a doctor, the Davises said Monday
before they were arrested.
"What doctor?" John Davis asked, standing outside his home in a Batman T-shirt before
deputies arrived. "How can we take them to a doctor when we got no money? We're poor
people."
The Davises said they've lived on their ranch on Raymond Drive for 10 years. They keep a
turkey, two geese and several chickens in a pen attached to the main house. They also kept
two dogs chained on the property.
Yahweh and Angel were taught at home and were rarely allowed off the 10-acre ranch, John
Davis said.
"They're good boys, but Yahweh was starting to want to get in trouble," he said. "He was
talking about going over the fence to rob one of the neighbors."
Carrie Davis said the boys were never chained or restrained, but they often played with
the dogs' chains, pretending they were dogs. One of the family's dogs, a German shepherd
named Geronimo, was chained in the boys' bedroom on Monday.
"There's no abuse here," she said. "We loved them, and we raised them."
Yahweh had been depressed and possibly suicidal at times for the past two years, the
Davises said. He had tried to hurt himself by banging his head against a wall. Another
time, he smashed his head through a window and cut his head on the broken glass.
"He'd been wanting to get out," Carrie Davis said. "But they were never chained to
anything out here."
As for the boys' malnourished appearance, John Davis said Yahweh was a light eater.
"They ate two meals a day. How can that be malnutrition?" John Davis asked. "We fed them
rice, bread, plenty to eat."
The few neighbors who live nearby had mixed reactions to the boys' claims of abuse and the
arrests of their parents.
John McCollum, who lives down the road from the Davises, said he had known John Davis six
years, but he first saw the kids in the yard a couple of years ago.
"I don't know if it's true," McCollum said. "I've never seen anything bad happen. It's
hard to believe."
Another neighbor, Gary Eugene Mitchell, said he had seen the boys eating as much as the
adults. Mitchell, who is Potts' boyfriend, also said the Davises were religious people who
kept to themselves.
Teen-agers who have been isolated from society and neglected for years have a harder time
healing than younger children subjected to such treatment, said Cathy Cimbalo, director of
San Bernardino County children's services department, which now has custody of the boys.
"It will be difficult. It may take longer. They may not achieve a full recovery, however
you define that," she said.
Cimbalo said she couldn't comment directly on the case but could discuss the department's
general reaction to similar circumstances. The department could not say whether it had
received prior complaints about the Raymond Avenue home.
The boys are 17 and 12 but could have the emotional maturity of much younger children, she
said.
Learning the rhythms of normal human interaction will be like growing up, but "in an adult
body," she added.
The isolated desert terrain of Wonder Valley may have made it possible for the boys'
circumstances to go unnoticed. The Davis home, which sits on a large lot on Raymond
Avenue, is remote enough that the deputy answering the 911 call had trouble finding it.
Wonder Valley, which is eight miles east of Twentynine Palms, has roughly 4,000 residents.
The town includes a church, three bars and a community center, where the area's large
senior population flocks for lunch.
A case of a child being chained emerged in September 1999, when police found a 6-year-old
girl chained to a bedpost at a Norco home. Severely underweight at 32 pounds and wearing
only a diaper, the girl was covered in human and animal waste, authorities said.
Her mother, Cynthia Topper -- who suffers from partial mental impairment after an attack
by an ex-boyfriend -- pleaded guilty to felony child endangerment and is serving a
six-year sentence.
The girl's grandfather Loren Bess, who also lived in the Norco home, faces trial this
month for his suspected involvement. He has pleaded not guilty.
M Rios
go. Very scary looking individuals. So sad for the children. On the news it
states that they can't remember the last time they brushed their teeth and
getting sprayed at with the garden hose was the parents idea of a bath.
Patty <la...@bug.com> wrote in message
news:QCiM5.5375$xa1.1...@nntp1.onemain.com...
Kevin Burnett
<la...@bug.com> wrote:
These "parents" sound like absolute monsters.
DedNdogYrs
The "father" looks like a black Charles Manson and the "mother" looks like
something you would see on the "Beverly Hillbillies".
Dogs & children first.
glas
the title) deserve to be chained to a fence post and left to go without food
for a few days.
glas <- noting further proof that Joe was right about some things...
"Patty" <la...@bug.com> wrote in message
news:PNiM5.5480$xa1.1...@nntp1.onemain.com...