In the case of starving her stepdaughter, Seattle woman says she is due leniency because of her multiple personality disorder

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Four days after her husband pleaded guilty to similar charges, a Carnation woman accused of starving her 14-year-old stepdaughter entered a modified guilty plea Sept. 4 to denying the girl food and water as punishment.

Despite acknowledging that she'd likely be found guilty had the case gone to trial, Rebecca A. Long (pictured) intends to ask that she be spared any prison time in the long-running abuse of the girl, her attorney said. Leniency is due her, the 45-year-old claims, because she suffers from a mental illness commonly known as multiple personality disorder.

Prosecutors filed charges Oct. 13 against the girl's father, Jon E. Pomeroy (pictured), and stepmother, Long, two months after the girl was removed from the home by the state Department of Social and Health Services.

Sheriff's deputies arrived at the Carnation home the evening of Aug. 13, 2008, after neighbors reported hearing a girl screaming. In court documents, the deputy sheriff who interviewed the then-14- year-old described her as "extremely skinny and pale" and found she weighed only 48 pounds.

The teen told police she was allowed only about 6 ounces of water each day and was monitored by Long when she bathed to keep her from "sneaking" extra water. Pomeroy, she told police, was aware that she was being starved but did nothing to stop it.

On Friday, Long pleaded a so-called Alford plea to one count of first-degree criminal mistreatment. The plea means that Long does not admit her guilt but believes that a jury would likely find her guilty.

While prosecutors intend to ask that Long receive a the maximum, a 3 1/2-year prison term, when she's sentenced Nov. 6, defense attorney Robert J. Wayne said he will request that Long be sent to mental health treatment rather than prison.

Wayne said that, since the mid-1990s, Long has suffered from dissociative identity disorder, an condition better known as multiple personality disorder. He contends his client's alleged condition stems from abuse she suffered as a child, and that she'd been treated for the mental illness for many years.

"We're going to be asking that she remain in treatment," said Wayne, who said he'll request either a first-time offender sentencing waiver or a sentence significantly shorter than the standard minimum term of 2 1/2 years.

Facing a judge Friday, Long said she had reluctantly agreed to a review by a state psychiatrist as part of the plea agreement. She told the judge she had gone over the plea agreement with her therapist -- as well as with her attorney -- and said she had "chosen this option."

"I'm afraid of (the state review), but I'll do it," Long said.

Asked to respond to Wayne's assertions, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Zachary Wagnild said the facts of the case don't support the claims Long has apparently made to mental health professionals.

"What she has reported to them does not seem to be consistent with all the other sources and all the other facts we have on what was happening in that house," Wagnild said.

Long's claims of mental illness are also at odds with her husband's statement to the court, in which Pomeroy denied abusing physically or emotionally abusing his wife.

"While I was aware that my wife was frustrated with my daughter during this time period, I'm not aware of any mental health issues suffered by my wife," said Pomeroy, who filed for divorce in July. Long, he added, did not "exhibit any outward signs of being mentally ill."

Since being placed with a foster family following her parents' arrests, the girl, now 15, has seen her condition improve, Wagnild said previously , though her growth remains stunted due to years of abuse.

"She'd doing well," Wagnild said earlier in the week. "She's probably not getting a lot taller, but she's gaining weight."

In court Monday, Pomeroy pleaded guilty to a a single county of first-degree criminal mistreatment. Wagnild said at the time he'll ask that Pomeroy recieve a 3 1/2-year term.

Pomeroy and Long have both been barred from contacting the girl; Wagnild said he will seek a long-term protection order at Pomeroy's sentencing to prevent the 43-year-old from contacting the girl or her younger brother.

In a statement to the court, Pomeroy admitted to sitting by as Long denied his daughter food and water. He also said he did not believe Long to have been suffering from any mental illness during the years he and his wife abused the girl.

In statements to police, Long allegedly said she used the water restriction to punish her stepdaughter. The couple's young son showed no signs of mistreatment.

Doctors evaluating the girl found nearly all of her teeth were either eroded or chipped, according to court documents. She was "extremely malnourished," the doctors said, and hadn't gained any weight since she was 9 years old.

Both Long and Pomeroy had previously been released from the King County Jail after each posted $20,000 bond.