Child protective services case workers had ongoing concerns about two adopted twin children of Jeff and Sandra Weller long before the children were taken into protective custody earlier this month.
Child Protective Services Spokeswoman Sherry Hill said the state's division logged eight separate allegations of child abuse involving the Weller's since 2004.
Hill said case workers were concerned about the low body weight of the Weller's adopted twins. They also voiced concerns the children were in danger of being abused. But when case workers interviewed the children they both denied being deprived of food or being abused.
That made it difficult for case workers to act even though they suspected the adopted twins were being mistreated.
Finally on Oct. 7, case workers responding to another alleged abuse allegation, concluded the children "needed help" and were removed from the Weller home.
Jeffrey and Sandra Weller were later charged with five counts of second-degree assault and two counts of unlawful imprisonment.
Court documents say the two 16 year olds are emaciated and the parents kept food from them because they though they ate too much. Police said the parents are also accused of hitting the children with a board if they tried to "steal" food. The twins told police that as far back as they can remember food has been locked up in their house.
As punishment for stealing food from the home's kitchen, the court probable cause documents allege the children were beaten by 42-year-old Jeff Weller, always under the supervision of his wife Sandra, 48.
"As a 'punishment' both are made to lie on the kitchen floor with no pants or underwear covering them and are struck in their buttock region repeatedly with a wooden stick, often making them bleed," reads the documents.
Another instance described in the documents depicts a more violent assault when Weller choked the female twin with his hands.
According to court documents, when Vancouver police officers responded Oct. 11 to the residence at the 14000 block of Northeast 17th Circle, they discovered bedroom conditions later described by the children: no interior door handle; an alarm on the door; locked window; no fuses or lights; and a boarded-up hole allegedly used by other children in the next room to pass food.
Both suspects already made a first appearance in Clark County Court and were appointed court attorneys. They are scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 27.
--The Associated Press contributed to this report
