Grace McAlister
Reporter1@riverbendnews.org
On Friday, Feb. 10, deputies and investigators with the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) became involved in a child abuse investigation involving 34-year-old Justin Howard Fadness and 34-year-old Sarah Beth Fadness of Live Oak.
During the investigation, SCSO Investigator Kim Lane learned the child victim had been deprived of food and beaten with belts, a grilling spatula and other household objects to the extent that the suspects left marks, bruises and cuts causing her to bleed.
She was found to have scars from previous injuries sustained from ongoing abuse.
A report from the SCSO states the child was locked inside a room with little to no items or food for hours. She was malnourished to the point where medical intervention was necessary.
The child was only allowed out of the room to do homework for her homeschooled classes, then she was ordered back into the room. Additionally, while the other residents of the home ate, “normal, family-type meals,” the victim was made to eat alone in the room where she was given “raw vegetables with occasional beans and rice.”
The report adds she had several marks on her fingers where she chewed her skin because she was hungry. She also told investigators she ate cat food. Furthermore, as punishment, the child was made to hold her bowels while she was locked in the room. “When she defecated and urinated in her room, her face was smeared in it, and she was not allowed to wash it off,” the report states.
It was noted how other residents of the home went on several outings, including to theme parks, while the child was locked in the room.
Additionally, there was a point where the child was made to stay outside in a tent while other residents slept inside.
Sarah is also reported to have tampered with evidence by having the child bathe when she realized law enforcement was outside. According to the SCSO report, she told the child to be quiet to avoid contact with law enforcement and had her shower because she “stunk.”
The child informed law enforcement she could not remember the last time she had bathed, and the only reason she was allowed to was because law enforcement was at the home. The SCSO report on the incident further states that “she would have been made to bathe outside in the yard under a water hose, as was customary for her.”
Both Justin and Sarah Fadness were arrested and transported to the Suwannee County Jail; Justin was charged with one count of aggravated child abuse and one count of child neglect with great bodily harm, while Sarah was charged with one count of aggravated child abuse, one count of child neglect and one count of evidence tampering/destroying.
Upon further investigation, it was discovered by law enforcement that two more suspects were involved in the abuse, Sarah Heeley and Matthew Harry Fromm. The SCSO stated both Heeley and Fromm assisted in depriving the child of food and water. In addition, the report states the two had daily contact with the child and lived on the same property; therefore, it was impossible for them not to witness the decline of the child’s health. They both participated in the beating of the child, and Heeley cut her hair with dog clippers, which she uses for her self-employed business.
Both Fromm and Heeley were arrested and transported to the Suwannee County Jail on Friday, March 3. They were both charged with one count of aggravated child abuse and one count of child neglect with great bodily harm. According to the SCSO report, the Child Protection Team and medical professionals at the University of Florida determined the child was targeted and tortured “based on the state her body is in.” In addition, a witness gave a forensic interview which corroborated the allegations.
“The men and women of the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office ask you to keep this young victim in your thoughts and prayers,” the SCSO stated in a Facebook post.