Sheriff: 3 abused children rescued from West Virginia ‘house of horrors’

A West Virginia couple is accused of physically and emotionally abusing three children in Jackson County, authorities said.

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According to a news release from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Erica Lynn Sayre, 45, and her husband, Clifford Gale Sayre, 46, both of Evans, have been charged with child neglect and child abuse.

They each were charged with six felony counts -- three counts of child abuse resulting in bodily injury and three counts of gross child neglect causing a substantial risk of death or serious bodily, according to West Virginia online court records.

The charges stem from a Sept. 7 complaint, and a warrant was issued on Oct. 9, court records show.

Jackson County Sheriff RH Mellinger called the environment the three children endured a “House of Horrors.”

The investigation uncovered allegations of many years of “disturbing mistreatment,” the sheriff said.

That included children being struck repeatedly, strangled, deprived of food and water and denied bathroom privileges. Soiled cat litter was also dumped on their beds, and the children were forced to run barefoot on a gravel driveway as punishment for any conflicts they had with Erica Sayre, according to the sheriff.

The extensive investigation also revealed allegations that the children were struck with household items, were forced to place a soiled sock in their mouths and had their hair forcibly cut with a razor, the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators added that Clifford Gale Sayre witnessed many instances of the abuse but failed to intervene, WSAZ reported.

During a forensic interview, the children said that “Mom hits us and Gale lets her” and then described how they were allegedly tormented and harassed about their deceased biological parents.

The sheriff’s office news release did not release the ages of the children or how they were related to the Sayres. Their genders were not directly revealed, although the sheriff’s office alluded to two different girls in its description of the alleged abuses.

Mellinger said that the alleged abuses were “Deeply troubling.”

“(They) underscore the importance of reporting suspected child abuse, as the children were all living in a real life ‘House of Horrors’ with the adults in their lives that should have otherwise been protecting them from such occurrences and conditions, not creating them.”

According to court records, Erica Sayre will appear at a preliminary hearing on Nov. 2. She was released after posting three bonds of $250,000 each. Clifford Gale Sayre was also released after posting a $150,000 bond, online records show.