South Dakota couple accused of drugging kids, using cattle prod
06/05/2020 10:05 am PDT
via WITI:
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (WITI) -- A South Dakota couple is accused of giving four children illegal drugs and of zapping them with a cattle prod to get them to comply with orders.
Investigators have recommended charging Lance Long, 36, and Crystallynn Long, 40, of Sioux Falls, with aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, abuse or cruelty to a minor and numerous other counts.
The Longs are jailed on a warrant of giving a controlled drug to a minor.
Minnehaha County Sheriff's Capt. Josh Phillips said the abuse had been going on for several years and involves boys ages 17, 13 and 11, as well as a 15-year-old girl. The children are related and some are half-siblings, the Argus Leader reported.
The couple gave the children methamphetamine and marijuana and shocked them with a cattle prod “to get the children to obey commands or if they weren't listening,” Phillips said.
Authorities received a child abuse complaint on May 13 from an individual connected to the couple, the Argus Leader reports. The couple was arrested after fleeing to Oklahoma.
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