Parents Plead Not Guilty to Torture
Charges
Oct. 24, 2000
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (AP) -- A
father accused of torturing his two sons, sometimes chaining them to
their bedposts, said he was following biblical teachings to protect
himself.
John Davis, 53, on Monday pleaded innocent to charges of torture,
child abuse and false imprisonment. His wife, Carrie Lee Davis, 41,
and Faye Potts, 46, a woman who lived with the family, also pleaded
innocent to the same charges. All three could be sentenced to life
in prison if convicted.
Davis, who calls himself Rajohn Lord and claims to be an ordained
minister, said it was his eldest son, 17-year-old Yahweh, he feared
most. The teen had become unruly and tried to hurt himself and his
12-year-old brother, Angel, Davis said.
'Discipline your children'
"Proverbs tells you to discipline your children, or else they
will grow up and kill their parents," he told The
Press-Enterprise in a jailhouse interview published Monday. "All
I did was discipline them."
Deputies found the boys in the family's isolated desert home
after Yahweh called 911 on Oct. 14. They said the brothers were
severely underdeveloped, malnourished and had scars on their backs
indicating they had been beaten.
They also had marks on their wrists consistent with being
restrained, according to authorities, who say interviews indicate
the boys have been isolated from the outside world since birth.
Cremated body in 1991
Davis also acknowledged cremating the body of another son in 1991
after the boy became ill and died from eating dry wall. He told the
newspaper there was no time to get the boy to a doctor.
No charges have been filed in the death.
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