9yo undernourished,tied up,locked in room,2 arrested/Fl

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 7:32 pm

Child abuse: 9-year-old undernourished and made to wear diaper
St. Petersburg, Florida - Two people have been arrested on charges of aggravated child abuse.

Raymond La Fountain and Melissa Samorja were taken into custody today and transported to Pinellas County Jail. Both are charged with unlawfully and intentionally cause great bodily harm to a victim under the age of 12.

Detectives say the suspects tied a 9-year-old girl's wrists and hands behind her back and locked her in her bedroom. While in the bedroom, the victim had no way to reach the bathroom and was made to wear a diaper. She was also denied food causing her lose weight.

When found, the child was 42 pounds.

The Department of Children and Family turned the child over to her grandparents, and she has now gained back her weight

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/specials/popular/article.aspx?s=popular&storyid=36649

Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2006 3:32 pm

Emaciated girl, 9, found in filthy diaper
Mother, roommate charged with abuse of 42-pound child

Thursday, August 3, 2006; Posted: 1:42 p.m. EDT (17:42 GMT)

Melissa Samoraj was charged with abusing her daughter, 9, who weighed 42 pounds when found.
Image:

ST PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) -- A woman and her roommate were charged with starving the woman's 9-year-old daughter, who weighed just 42 pounds when she was found, authorities said.

The child also was locked up all day and was forced to wear a filthy diaper, police said.

Melissa Samoraj, 27, and Raymond LaFountain, 31, were arrested Wednesday and charged with aggravated child abuse.

The girl was so emaciated that her spine and ribcage were showing when state child welfare officials took her June 30, police said.

The girl also had her hands bound behind her, was locked in a bedroom all day and wore a diaper that went unchanged for hours, officials said. She told police it was punishment for bad behavior.

"It's a very disturbing case," police Detective Joe DeLuca said. "You see very few like this."

The girl now lives with her grandparents and has gained about 25 pounds in a month.

"She's doing well now," DeLuca said.

LaFountain's mother reported the girl's appearance after visiting the home, DeLuca said. It's not clear how long the alleged abuse had been going on, police said.

Samoraj and LaFountain were in a Pinellas County jail Thursday, each held on a $50,000 bond. DeLuca said they did not address the allegations when they were arrested Wednesday, and jail records did not indicate if they had lawyers.

LaFountain was originally described by police as Samoraj's live-in boyfriend, but the gender classification at the jail was changed from male to female following a routine strip search, Pinellas sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen said.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/03/starved.girl.ap/index.html