Mum with 15 children ‘forced her abused and beaten children to watch as she BOILED puppies to death’
A MUM of 15 forced her children to watch as she boiled the family dog’s puppies in a large pot on a cooker, it has been reported. Martha Crouch,53, from New Mexico, is alleged to have starved and beaten her children as well as killed their pets. According to court documents, she “took the puppies […]
A MUM of 15 forced her children to watch as she boiled the family dog’s puppies in a large pot on a cooker, it has been reported.
Martha Crouch,53, from New Mexico, is alleged to have starved and beaten her children as well as killed their pets.
According to court documents, she “took the puppies and put them into a giant pot and boiled them, making all the kids watch”.
She has been charged with child abuse and extreme cruelty to animals while her husband Timothy, 57, has been charged with obstructing an investigation into child abuse.
According to the Farmington Daily Times some of the couple’s eight sons and seven daughters have made abuse and neglect allegations against them.
The allegations made by one of the children are the source of the criminal charges.
Martha Crouch is accused of beating her 17-year-old daughter with a kitchen tool, shooting her dog Pip and on the same day boiling puppies in a large pot at the family home, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
The daughter stated that when she entered the kitchen, she saw puppies from her mother’s dog, Lady, being boiling on top of the stove, around October 2018.
A San Juan County Sheriff’s Office investigation reportedly found allegations the children did not go to school, did not get enough food to eat and were ordered to hide from social workers.
‘BOILED IN LARGE POT’
Beatings were not unusual and the family would move at a moment’s notice if police or social workers began investigating.
One of the boys said he was “beaten, shot, stabbed and run over by his parents” and still had BB gun pellets still inside him from “when the mother shot him with a shotgun”, KOB4 reported.
The children were only allowed to eat once per day with one of the girls placed on a “fat chain” for three years to suppress her appetite because Martha believed she was overweight.
Court documents show New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department has received hundreds of pages of reports from social service agencies in several states, including Alaska, Kansas, Missouri and Montana, involving the family.
Investigators told KOB that they believe the Crouches moved their family from state to state after investigations began though it’s not clear what types of allegations were made in those states.
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Martha and Timothy Crouch were arrested on Monday at their home.
But despite the horrific allegations levelled against the couple, their eldest son Timothy, 31, told KOB4 he believes they are innocent.
“My family are wonderful people. My mom and dad are some of the best people you’ll meet,” he said.
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