Last month, Steve and Joetta Sells were arrested for one of the most horrific crimes in recent memory. The couple were charged with keeping their 15-year-old granddaughter locked in a room in their Anderson, Indiana home for four years and nearly starving her to death. By the time she was rescued on December 1, the special-needs teen weighed only 35 pounds and had been literally reduced to skin and bones.? The Sellses were formally arraigned on December 5, and both are in jail on $100,000 cash bond.
Well, the victim’s aunt has joined the Sellses in jail. Crystal Sells, Steve Sells’ biological daughter, was arrested on Thursday and charged with one count of battery resulting in injury, three counts of criminal confinement, and three counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury. Crystal not only told police about what her father and stepmother had done to her niece, but admitted that she was involved in the abuse as well. For instance, a roommate told investigators that Crystal hit the teen in the head with a plastic chair.
When I first read about this, my initial picture of Crystal’s involvement was similar to how my ex-wife goaded her autistic 18-year-old son into beating me up. Sadly, that isn’t the case with Crystal. She told investigators that she was well aware that what she was doing was not just wrong, but illegal–and yet did nothing about it. That didn’t sit well with Madison County prosecutor Rodney Cummings, who said that Crystal “clearly could have gotten help for this girl if she chose to and did not.”
According to court documents, Joetta and Crystal found the girl unresponsive after a fall on December 1, and waited almost three hours to call an ambulance. One of their relatives told police that she overheard Joetta and Crystal figuring out what to tell police and paramedics, and noticed they seemed more concerned about staying out of jail than the girl’s condition. As it turned out, it backfired. When the girl arrived at St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Anderson, her body was covered with bed sores and dried feces–prompting doctors and nurses to call the police. When police arrived at the Sellses’ house, they found her room covered with feces, with only a space heater to keep it warm. They also found blood on the floor.? Under the circumstances, these arrests were more or less preordained.
A few days earlier, WXIN in Indianapolis spoke with the girl’s biological mother and Steve Sells’ daughter, Jannifer Sells. A court had given Steve Sells custody of the girl in 2009, when Jannifer was admitted for treatment. Jannifer said that while she was concerned that her father wouldn’t allow her to visit her daughter, she didn’t have even the slightest indication that it was this bad. Jannifer wants her daughter to be allowed to live with her and her and her fiance, Anthony Gaw, once she’s released. The couple have been in touch with doctors at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis, where the girl has been recovering from her ordeal. Doctors initially didn’t think she’d survive and took her off life support last week. However, Gaw said that she “fought all night,” and has really turned around since New Year’s Eve. While she’s doing well enough that she can get out of bed, she’s still in critical condition.
Steve Sells was slapped with a superseding indictment last week charging him with theft, perjury and welfare fraud. There will almost certainly be more in the offing. After all, I’d be surprised if Crystal doesn’t turn state’s evidence and testify against her father and stepmother. Given the severity of the charges, it’s about the only chance she’d have of getting out of prison before she’s 40. Even if they don’t get Crystal to cooperate, I hope that Cummings and his team spare no expense to make sure Steve and Joetta die in prison–that is, if Indiana law allows them to do so. People like these two are a clear and present danger to any civilized society, and simply cannot be allowed to ever breathe free air again if legally possible.
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Darrell Lucus, also known as Christian Dem in NC on Daily Kos, is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.
