Guilty plea in starvation of girl, 14

SEATTLE – A 45-year-old woman accused of withholding water and starving her 14-year-old stepdaughter has entered a modified guilty plea to a charge of first-degree criminal mistreatment.

The girl was 4-foot-7 and weighed 48 pounds when authorities found her in August 2008 in her Carnation-area home east of Seattle. Court documents say her dehydration was so severe all her teeth were rotting.

Rebecca Long’s guilty plea came Friday, just days after the girl’s father, 43-year-old Jon Pomeroy, pleaded guilty to the same charge. Long told a King County Superior Court judge she was entering an Alford plea, not admitting guilt but acknowledging a jury would likely convict her. Defense lawyer Robert Wayne says his client suffers from an identity disorder he likens to multiple personality disorder.

King County prosecutor’s spokesman Dan Donohoe says the sentence range is 31 to 41 months and the prosecutor’s office will recommend 41 months in prison for each defendant.