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Couple gave kids meth, shocked them with cattle prod for years, police say

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A South Dakota teen who joined the U.S. Marines blew the lid on years of abuse he and his siblings endured at the hands of their parents, including being shocked with a cattle prod and being forced to ingest methamphetamine, authorities said.

Lance Lowell Long, 36, and Crystallynn Long, 40, both of Sioux Falls, are charged with a total of 14 crimes against the children, who range in age from 17 to 11. According to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, the charges include aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, distributing a controlled substance to a minor and abuse or cruelty to a minor.

Capt. Josh Phillips, of the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters authorities received a child abuse complaint May 13 from a person connected to the couple. The children were interviewed by detectives and the Longs, who had fled to Oklahoma, were taken into custody there.

An arrest affidavit obtained by the Argus Leader offers disturbing details of the alleged abuse.

According to the document, the 17-year-old boy who joined the Marines confided in his recruitment sergeant about the abuse he and his siblings suffered. The sergeant called one of the teen’s relatives, who made the call to police.

The boy told investigators Lance Long had given him and his siblings meth and marijuana over the past 2 1/2 years, the Argus Leader reported. He said one of the other children had also been punched in the kidneys and subjected to a Taser.

Minnehaha County deputies went to the Long home to perform a welfare check on the remaining children, who answered the door. When initially questioned about the alleged abuse, the children denied it, the affidavit states.

They also spoke to Crystallynn Long in the driveway of the home. The Argus Leader reported that one of the children, the 15-year-old girl, appeared “excessively nervous” during the interview, so one deputy asked Long if he could speak to the child in private. She agreed, according to the affidavit.

Once the deputy got the girl in his patrol vehicle to talk, she admitted that everything her older brother had said was true, the newspaper said.

“She said she is very worried about her two younger brothers, but she’s happy that someone finally said something about Lance,” the affidavit says.

Once other detectives arrived on the scene with a social worker, Crystallynn Long admitted that her husband would “sometimes chase their children with a hot-shot taser to intimidate them, but that he doesn’t actually taze them,” according to the document.

The affidavit alleges that further interviews with the 17-year-old who initially reported the abuse led detectives to an older sibling who had previously reported abuse at the hands of Lance Long. The allegations were investigated but nothing was done, the teen said.

When detectives reached out to the older sister, she told them Lance Long constantly abused her and her siblings.

“Lance is a cruel and evil person,” the young woman said, telling them he enjoyed abusing and controlling the children, the affidavit says.

The 17-year-old boy said he and his younger siblings never tried to report Lance Long’s abuse out of fear “it would make things worse for them” as it had their older sister, the Argus Leader reported.

The boy ultimately told his recruitment sergeant about the abuse because he feared that, now that he was out of the family’s house, he would not be able to protect his brothers and sister, the newspaper said.

According to the affidavit, the teen told investigators Lance Long gave the children drugs to “help them learn about drugs so that drugs wouldn’t ruin their lives later on.” He said Crystallynn Long was present when they were given the drugs but did not encourage them to use it.

A search of the couple’s home turned up a vial of unidentified liquid and the taser, which Crystallynn Long retrieved from a hallway cupboard, the Argus Leader reported.

Further interviews with the children resulted in tales about the taser, the other physical abuse – including one child being run over with a three-wheel all-terrain vehicle – and alleged sexual assault. KSFY in Sioux Falls reported that the children said Lance Long was particularly hard on the youngest boy, who was just 7 years old when he first used the hot-shot taser on him.

The boy, now 11, told authorities his father once used the tool on him because “it was funny,” the news station reported. Lance Long had used the taser on him as recently as a week before the police interview.

The boy told detectives his father also tried to show him porn on his cellphone, KSFY reported.

The Argus Leader reported that a doctor examined some of the children and found marks consistent with the abuse.

The Department of Social Services took custody of the children who remained in the Long home, the newspaper said. The investigation into the alleged abuse continues and additional charges may be filed against the couple.

Lance Long is being held without bond, Minnehaha County Jail records show. Crystallynn Long’s bail has been set at $150,000.

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