commentary by Patrick H. Moore
One typically assumes that parents adopt children in order to give them the opportunity to grow up in a healthy, happy home and have opportunities that they would not otherwise have. Some adoptions, of course, are domestic, but these days a great many adopted children come to us from China, Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. Sadly, a small percentage of adoptive parents wade through the mountain of paperwork and the considerable expense required to complete and formalize an adoption for precisely the wrong reasons. Such was the case with Larry and Carri Williams of Sedro-Woolley, Washington. Morgan Lee of the Christian Post writes:
An American couple has been found guilty in the death of their adopted daughter and abuse of their adopted son.
Larry and Carri Williams were convicted of first-degree manslaughter of their adopted teenage Ethiopian daughter, and first-degree assault of a child for their abuse of an Ethiopian boy they adopted at the same time. The jury also convicted Carri of homocide by abuse though they did not reach that decision for her husband. Both defendants intend to appeal.
Hana Williams, the couple’s adopted daughter, collapsed and died in May 2011, apparently in the backyard. The autopsy report states the cause of death was hypothermia, exacerbated by malnutrition and an undefined “stomach condition.”
Appalling details were revealed during the course of the trial. The prosecution introduced evidence that Larry and Carri allegedly forced Hana to use an outdoor portable toilet and shower, even though there was modern plumbing in the house. Her sustenance was limited to cold and frozen food. They made a habit of striking her regularly with a belt and piece of plumbing line. They also shaved her head. The prosecution further asserted that during the time period leading up to Hana’s death, she had been locked in a closet each night and had not been allowed to talk to any of her seven adopted siblings.
The Williams’ already had six adopted children when they adopted Hana and her younger brother Immanuel from Ethiopia in 2008. The boy and girl
were then seven and 11 yeas old.
Following Hana’s death, The New York Times reported that the couple’s abusive parenting tactics had been based on instructions contained in a so-called “Christian parenting book” called To Train Up a Child. According to the report, Carri Williams had recommended the book to a friend and beaten Hana with a plastic tube, which was specifically recommended in the book.
“It’s a good spanking instrument,” said the author of the book, Tennessee preacher Michael Pearl, in an interview with The New York Times. “It’s too light to cause damage to the muscle or the bone.”
This was one of those trials which divided the community along clearly marked lines of demarcation. Each day spectators supporting both camps filled the court room. Metassibia Mulugeta, a member of Seattle’s Ethiopian community, attended to provide solidarity to Williams’ Ethiopian children.
Mulugeta questioned how the kids’ suffering could have lasted for so long:
“Deprivation of food. Deprivation of socialization, within the family. Deprivation of sleep. Deprivation of total freedom. I mean, (Hana) was under control in every sense, and they both were,” Mulugeta said. “…How long could she have lived and endured that?”
This is a rhetorical question. Poor Hana could not live and endure the execrable conditions Larry and Carri Williams heaped upon her.
Janet Heimlich of Religious Child Maltreatment has been following the case. Ms. Heimlich writes:
After reading witness accounts and news reports, I began picking up on some familiar-sounding details: Larry and Carri Williams expected complete obedience of their children, especially of Hana and Immanuel. The parents were devout Christians who home schooled their children. They played audio recordings of Bible verses and Christian music during punishments, and there was talk in the household of Hana being possessed by demons. Also, investigators found in the home “To Train Up a Child”.
I know that book well. It’s a parenting guide written by Tennessee preacher Michael Pearl who operates a website called No Greater Joy. “To Train Up a Child” has been harshly criticized for its reliance on physical punishment of children.
Hana was not the first child to die in a home run by followers of Michael Pearl. Both 4-year-old Sean Paddock and 7-year-old Lydia Schatz had been killed by adoptive parents who had had a copy of “To Train Up a Child” in their homes and had used similar techniques advocated by Pearl. Those techniques included being whipped with 1/4-inch-wide plumbing line, a form of torture that both Hana and Immanuel Williams also suffered.
According to witness statements and court testimony, Carri and Larry Williams were obsessed with child obedience. When investigators interviewed their biological children, they noted that they appeared to be strangely cheery and were often looking at their parents, as if to be sure they answered questions the way their parents wanted them to. All children risked punishment if they disobeyed their parents’ orders. One sibling told investigators that if Immanuel was not doing a chore as instructed, he would “get the switch on his hands.” Hana would get “switched” if she did not stand within twelve inches of a designated spot.
* * * * *
In the state of Washington, the maximum sentence for first-degree manslaughter is life in prison. The Skagit Valley Herald reports that “Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich is recommending 14 to 18 years for Larry Williams and 27 to 37 years for Carri Williams.”
Their sentencing will occur later this month.
* * * * *
Once again we appear to have a case in which even the lengthy term of imprisonment recommended by the prosecution may not be long enough. No term of incarceration, however, will bring Hana Williams back to life.
In late October, Carri Williams was sentenced Tuesday to just under 37 years, the top of the standard sentencing range, by Judge Susan Cook who said she probably deserved more time in prison, the Skagit Valley Herald reported. Her husband received a sentence of nearly 28 years.
You might say that justice has been served.