Foster parents arrested for keeping boy, 12, in basement without food, bed

Sep. 13—FORTY FORT — Luzerne County detectives and Forty Fort police arrested Sean Williams, 48, and his wife, Dana Williams, 57, on allegations they withheld food from a 12-year-old foster boy forced to sleep without a bed and pillow on the basement or attic floors of their Wyoming Avenue residence, according to court records.

Detectives in court records say Sean Williams and Dana Williams hid the boy from child caseworkers with Luzerne County Children and Youth Services claiming they sent the boy to visit family in Georgia.

Sean Williams allegedly strangled and struck the boy in the genitals whenever the boy asked for food and a pillow.

The boy including three other foster children, ages 10, 12, 12, were taken into protective custody.

According to the criminal complaints:

Child caseworkers were investigating a report about a missing foster child from the Williams' residence at 1220 Wyoming Ave. in July.

Sean Williams claimed he sent the boy to visit family in Georgia and deleted text messages when asked to confirm the boy was safely in Georgia.

Police in Forty Fort requested authorities in Douglasville, Ga., to conduct a welfare check on the boy at an address provided by Sean Williams. Police in Douglasville, Ga., was unable to locate the boy at the address, the complaints say.

While detectives were at Williams' residence, the missing foster child appeared in the kitchen. When a detective said hello, the boy ran and hid inside the house.

When Sean Williams and Dana Williams were asked where the boy would be hiding inside the residence, they both stared at each other in silence, the complaint says.

The boy was found hiding inside a tiny crevice in the basement where it was learned the boy slept on the concrete floor without a mattress and a pillow. Only a torn sheet was found in the crevice, according to the complaint.

Other foster children in the home including the boy were interviewed by a forensic interviewer at the Children's Advocacy Center.

Detectives learned food would be withheld from the boy and the boy would be strangled by Sean Williams whenever he would ask for food and a pillow, the complaints say.

Detectives further alleged the boy would be thrown into the basement and was forced to stay in the basement whenever Sean Williams and Dana Williams had visitors to their residence.

During the forensic interviews, the boy claimed he once vomited on the basement floor and was forced to eat the vomit, the complaints say.

Sean Williams was charged with possession of child pornography, endangering the welfare of children, tampering with evidence, criminal use of communication facility and simple assault. He was jailed at the county correctional facility without bail as he was deemed a threat to society.

Dana Williams was charged with a single count of endangering the welfare of children. She was jailed at the county correctional facility for lack of $250,000 bail.

District Judge Thomas Malloy of Wilkes-Barre arraigned the pair.