One boy and four girls between the age of 10 and 13, adopted by Jeffrey and Rebecca Trebilcock, were systematically starved. The eldest child, a 13-year-old boy weighed just 49 pounds, fifty pounds below average. He gained 25 lbs in the first 2 months away and more than 60 pounds 7 inches in the 15 months after he was removed from the house.
The Trebilcocks, whose 4 biological children (3 adult, 1 minor) were fully nourished, had a custom made alarm system installed to prevent the adopted children from entering the kitchen. They ate a vegetarian or vegan diet, which is encouraged, though not required, by the Seventh Day Adventist church. Becky had had weight loss surgery in Mexico and Jeff was obese.
Two children, a boy and a girl, were adopted from the Washington foster care system in 2004. In 2008, after Trebilcocks had been turned down for more foster care adoptions due to house size, they adopted the 3 girls from Haiti. They had just received an approved homestudy for another private adoption, allegedly for a child from Africa.
Date: 2011-03-01
Placement type: Adoption
Type of abuse: Non-lethal physical abuse, Non-lethal neglect, Non-lethal deprivation
Abuser: Adoptive father, Adoptive mother
Home schooling: yes
Fundamentalist faith: yes
Location
West Longview, Washington
United States
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