McCurrys Found Guilty In Child Starvation Trial; Will Serve 20 Years Each

Update Thursday, July 23 3:40pm

Scott and Molly McCurry were sentenced to 20 years for Felony Child Abuse.
They were also sentenced to 10 years for Unlawful conduct toward a child.
The sentences will run concurrent, so they will serve 20 years each.

Update Thursday, July 23 3:15pm

Scott and Molly McCurry were each found guilty of 3 counts of child abuse and 3 counts of unlawful conduct toward a child.

Update Thursday, July 23 1:15pm

The jury is now deliberating in the child starvation trial of Scott and Molly McCurry.
  During closing arguments, Scott’s attorney, Doug Brannon, showed the jury photos of the oldest boy taken at the end of the school year in 2006.
  “Look at his cheeks! Look at how full they are!“ said Brannon. “Sure, he was little - but he was little when he came to live with (the McCurrys).“
  But Assistant 7th Circuit Solicitor Susan Reese pointed out, in her closing, that the two oldest boys were eating breakfast and lunch at school. The photos the jury saw on Tuesday of three emaciated boys were taken on July 13, 2006 - seven weeks after the last day of school.
  And she pointed out that the youngest boy - who wasn’t in school - also was in the weakest condition, weighing only 19 pounds when deputies came to the McCurry home.
  “They were systematically being starved to death,“ said Reese.
  She reminded the jury of one of the boys’ testimony that they were tied to their beds at night “to keep them from sneaking food”, supported by photos of plastic zip-ties found on the boys’ beds by investigators. 
  Brannon said if the children were starved in the summer of ‘06, it wasn’t Scott McCurry’s fault. He said his client worked hard to provide food for his family while Molly stayed at home all day with the children. He alleges Molly had a drug problem and tied up the boys while Scott was at work.
  “She was smoking crack!“ said Brannon.
  Reese argued that Scott McCurry knew exactly what was happening to the boys and participated in the starvation. She pointed out that his biological daughter testified that “both parents” tied up the boys and that the boys were forced to stand and watch her and her parents eat. She also reminded the jury of the boy’s testimony that he and his brothers weren’t allowed to eat when Scott was at home and “got whipped” for sneaking food.

**Thursday 10:25am Update**

Closing arguments are about to begin in the child abuse trial of Scott and Molly McCurry.

When court resumed Thursday morning, Scott McCurry took the stand again to testify that he saw his ex-wife, Molly, smoking crack three months before their arrests in July 2006.

Molly then took the stand, saying she has never used crack and testifying that she passed several 90-day drug tests following the arrests.

During Wednesday’s testimony, Scott’s defense attorney, Doug Brannon, painted a picture of Scott being the hard-working husband who provided food for his family while Molly stayed at home not working and neglecting to feed and care for their foster sons.

***Updated 7/22 8:22pm
On Thursday a jury will begin deciding the fate of a man and woman who Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Deputies said abused and neglected their children.
  Scott and Molly McCurry got a divorce four months ago, but on Wednesday they stood united before a jury and testified that they never withheld food from their foster children. But their biological daughter told a different story.
  The McCurrys are each charged with three counts of child abuse and child neglect. They were arrested in July 2006 after deputies went to their home in Lyman and boys severely malnourished. The 8-year old weighed 39-pounds, the 7-year old weighed 32-pounds, and the 5-year old weighed just 19 pounds.
  The boys, who are Molly McCurry’s great nephews, were placed with the couple in 2003 by Department of Social Services.
  Molly McCurry, 32, testified she fed the boys three meals a day. She said a DSS case worker told her to feed the boys “smaller portions because the boys would eat so much, they would make themselves sick,“ saying the children were not used to getting a lot to eat because they had been neglected by their biological mother.
  She also said in the weeks leading up to the arrests, the boys had been sick with a stomach virus and could not hold down their food.
  Scott McCurry, 33, admitted that he tied the boys to their beds at night with zip-ties, but he said he did not do that to keep them from eating - as the boys told investigators. He said he did it because the boys had been sexually assaulting each other at night. He said before resorting to restraints, he and his ex-wife called DSS and told them about the problem but they provided no help. He says he also took the boys to his pastor for counseling but the molestation continued.
  “The only way I knew to keep the kids from touching each other like that so we could get some sleep was to restrain them,“ said McCurry.
  “What if there had been a fire?“ asked Assistant Solicitor Susan Reese.
  “I would have gotten them out,“ answered McCurry.
  “What if they had to use the bathroom?“ asked Reese.
  “They could holler and wake us up and we’d come untie them,“ answered McCurry. “It wasn’t hurting them boys. And I only did it like five or six times.“
  This contradicted earlier testimony by one of the boys, who said they were tied up “a lot” and were forced to use the bathroom in the bed.

Powerful Exchanges  
  There were some powerful exchanges in court as Reese cross-examined the McCurrys. Scott McCurry denied telling an investigator at the time of his arrest that he thought the boys “looked fine”. Reese forced him to look at photos of the boys taken on the night deputies came to the home. They show gaunt faces with hollow eye sockets and skin stretched tight over cheekbones. The five-year old looks especially emaciated.
  “So that little boy looks fine to you?“ asked Reese, referring to the photo.
  “No. I can’t explain why they look that way,“ answered McCurry. “I never noticed a problem.“
  “Well, these photos were taken in your house,“ said Reese.
  She also showed the photos to Molly McCurry, asking her if she it is her testimony that she fed the boys three times a day.
  “Yes,“ replied McCurry.
  “Did he look this way when he was placed in your home?“ asked Reese, referring to the 5-year old.
  “No, ma’am,“ said Molly.
  “Then don’t you think you should have taken him to the doctor,“ asked Reese.
  “Yes,“ said Molly.

Daughter Has A Different Story

  The McCurrys’ biological daughter, who is now 13, took the stand as a defense witness, but provided possibly condemning testimony against her parents.
  She admitted that her parents made her nephews watch the rest of the family eat while not giving the boys any food. Through tears, she said that she would often “sneak food” to the boys after her parents had gone to bed.

  She also admitted that the boys would get tied to their beds at night, testifying that her mother tied them “most of the time” which condradicts earlier testimony given by Molly McCurry who said Scott tied up the boys. She also testified that her parents punished the boys by making them stand facing a wall while wearing bookbags filled with heavy objects - and said her father whipped the boys with a belt buckle.

  For the first time, Scott McCurry showed emotion during the trial, crying while his daughter was on the stand.
  Testimony resumes at 9:30 Thursday morning. The jury will likely get the case tomorrow which means we will likely have a verdict by tomorrow evening.

***Updated 7/22, 11:43 a.m.***

Molly McCurry is testifying in her own defense today, as she and her ex-husband stand trial on charges of starving their nephews.

She told the jury she always fed the boys breakfast and lunch, and then the family would go buy fast food or groceries for dinner.

She said DSS granted her and Scott McCurry custody of the boys in 2003 after they were taken from their mother because of neglect. She said the DSS case worker instructed them to feed the boys small meals.

“She told us they would eat so much they would make themselves throw up,“ said Molly McCurry. “She also told us to watch the trash can because the boys were used to eating out of the trash.“

She also testified that Scott used zip-ties to tie the boys to their beds at night. She said he did this because the 8-year old was sexually abusing the 7-year old and both were abusing the 5-year old. She said she and Scott took turns staying awake at night to stop the abuse but they just couldn’t do it, so that’s when he decided to tie up the boys. She said she would cut them free in the morning.

Molly McCurry also testified that Scott would punish the boys by making them stand in the corner wearing backpacks filled with cat litter and bottles of bleach. She said Scott broke her arm one night when she tried to stop him from whipping the oldest boy. She claims she lied to investigators about how she broke her arm because “I was afraid of Scott”.

She is still testifying. Scott McCurry has also indicated he will testify.

***Updated 5:30 a.m.***
(Spartanburg)—On Wednesday, the parents who are accused of neglecting and abusing their children could take the stand in their own defense. A photo of an emaciated five-year old boy drew an audible gasp from the courtroom during testimony Tuesday in the child abuse trial of a Lyman couple.

The doctor who treated the boys at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center also testified.

Dr. Kristy Wolske began to choke up when talking about the 5-year-old’s condition. She says the boy’s skin was so translucent you could see through it. She says the boy’s hair was falling out from starvation.
“He was so malnourished to the point of having absolutely no fat on his body. His skin was translucent,“ said Dr. Wolske.  “His hair was coarse and brittle. Basically, he was starving to death.“
She said their condition was caused by chronic malnutrition and starvation and not a stomach virus.  Scott and Molly McCurry both gave statements to detectives, saying the whole family had been suffering from a stomach virus in the days before deputies arrived at their home.

Scott and Molly McCurry are each charged with three counts of child abuse and child neglect. Prosecutors accuse them of starving their three adopted sons and tying them to their beds at night to keep them from getting food.

Jurors also heard from the Spartanburg County deputy who in July 2006 responded to a complaint from a neighbor concerned about the boys’ welfare.

“It was appalling to me,“ testified Deputy Len Burgess. “They were really, really frail. The youngest one especially looked weak. They looked like skeletons.“

The assistant solicitor then displayed a photo taken that night of the 5-year old boy. It showed his skin stretched tight over his face above a very thin neck. All of his facial bones were protruding. His eye sockets were visible as he managed a weak smile at the camera.

A former Wellford police officer who also responded to the McCurry home that night testified that once he got inside the house with the boys, they started eating cereal.

“They acted like they hadn’t eaten in awhile,“ said Ray Thompson. “They just seemed glad someone else was in the house.“

Prosecutors also showed photos of marks on the boys’ wrists - caused they say by the McCurrys tying the boys to their beds at night with zip-ties. And they showed photos of zip-ties and ropes which investigators say they found attached to the boys’ beds.

The defense has not yet presented its side of the case. Testimony resumes Wednesday morning at 9:30.

Update 7/20 6:15 p.m.

A 10-year old boy took the stand Monday in the trial of his former adoptive parents, telling the jury they tied him and his brothers to their beds at night and whipped them for trying to get food.

Dennis Scott McCurry, 33, and Molly McCurry, 32, of Lyman are each charged with three counts of child abuse and three counts of child neglect.

They were arrested in July 2006 after authorities received an anonymous call from a neighbor concerned about the health of three brothers whom the McCurrys had adopted.

Inestigators said the boys - ages 8,7, amd 5 - appeared to be “starved” and “extremely thin and very weak” when a deputy responded to the complaint.

Prosecutors say the boys were taken to the hospital and were found to be grossly underweight. They say the 5-year old weighed just 19 pounds, the 7-year old weighed 32 pounds, and the 8-year old weighed 39 pounds. The youngest boy “resembled a skeleton, with the skin withdrawn tight against his face,“ according to an incident report.

The 7-year old, who is now 10, told jurors the McCurrys would tie him and his brothers to their beds at night.

“I got tied up,“ said the boy on the stand.
“You got tied up? Can you describe for the jury how you got tied up?“ asked Assistant Solicitor Susan Reese.
“I got tied up to the bunk beds,“ said the boy.
“When did you get tied up, sweetie?“ asked Reese.
“At night when I went to sleep.“
“And what if you had to use the bathroom?“ asked Reese.
“I just had to go in the bed,“ replied the boy.

The boy also said in testimony that they were forced to urinate and defecate on themselves during the night while tied to their beds. He said there were not allowed to play outside and had to stand at the front door during the summer wearing book bags filled with cat litter or Clorox.

When the boy was asked if he ever told adults what was going on he said he didn’t because he would get in trouble.

He also said that he and his brothers rarely got to eat. He said sometimes they had to sit at the kitchen table and watch the rest of the family, including the McCurrys’ 10-year old biological daughter, eat dinner.

During opening arguments, defense attorneys for the McCurrys said the children had a severe stomach virus in the days leading up to the investigators’ visit. Attorney Doug Brannon, who is representing Scott McCurry, warned the jury that the state would present a lot of evidence and testimony, but he cautioned them to wait until they hear both sides of the story.

“What I’m asking you to do is to wait for the second half,“ said Brannon to the jury.

Molly McCurry is being represented by Chief Public Defender Clay Allen. It was clear the two defendants were not worried about protecting each other. At one point during his opening argument, Brannon said Molly wrecked the family’s second vehicle “while she was going to buy drugs”.

Allen immediately objected and the judge called both attorneys over to his bench.

Monday’s portion of the trial concluded after the boy’s testimony. It will resume Tuesday morning at 9:30. The McCurry’s have not given their side of the story. They may tesify on their own behalf when that portion of the trial arrives.  On Tuesday the couple’s biological child could take the stand.

** Update 1:50 p.m. **

Pre-trial motions have finished.

The defense tried unsuccessfully to have three statements given by the McCurrys before they were arrested thrown out.

The trial is scheduled to begin at later Monday.

** Update 12:30 p.m.

A jury pool has been qualified and a trial begins Monday afternoon in a Spartanburg County child abuse case. Scott and Molly McCurry were arrested in July 2006 after investigators say they found their three adopted nephews in severely malnourished condition in a home in Lyman. Department of Social Services officers say Scott McCurry admitted that he tied the boys’ hands to the bed post to keep them from getting food. Deputies say the boys were severely underweight when they were found. The 5-year-old weighed 19 lbs., the 7-year-old weighed 32 lbs., and the 9-year-old weighed just 39 lbs.

According to the CDC the average weight for boys for the appropriate age are as follows:

5 - 40 lbs
7 - 52 lbs
9 - 62 lbs

Source: CDC