A gaunt 18-year-old Georgia man told California police his stepfather had banished him and sent him on a cross-country bus ride after the stepfather had confined him to a room for four years, authorities said.
The confinement allegedly was so thorough, Mitch Comer's two younger sisters – living in the same home – hadn't seen the teen for the last two years, and he says he hadn't been outdoors in at least that amount of time, Paulding County (Georgia) Sheriff's Cpl. Ashley Henson said.
The teen's stepfather and mother were arrested in Dallas, Georgia, last week after a retired Los Angeles police officer found the teen wandering an L.A. bus station, weighing under 100 pounds at just over 5 feet tall, and looking like he was 12 or 13, the L.A. Police Department said.
Paul M. Comer, 48, and the teen's mother, Sheila M. Comer, 39, both of Dallas, Georgia, were charged last week with cruelty to children relating to alleged abuse during Mitch Comer's minor years, Henson said. Both are being held without opportunity for bail, pending an October 4 hearing.
"The information we have is … the neighbors didn't even know there was a boy living in the home," Paulding County District Attorney Dick Donovan told "CNN Newsroom" on Friday.
The investigation started on September 11 when retired LAPD Sgt. Joe Gonzales, working security at an L.A. Greyhound bus station, called police after mistaking Mitch Comer for a child wandering the station alone, police said.
The teen told officers that Paul Comer had kicked him out of his Georgia home because he had just turned 18. Comer drove him to a Jackson, Mississippi, bus station, gave him $200 and information on Los Angeles homeless shelters that he gleaned from the Internet, put him on a bus and told him never to return, authorities said.
The teen also told investigators he was abused at home for the last four years, saying that after Comer removed him from school in the eighth grade, he was confined to a room and given small amounts of food daily.
He also said he was forced to "assume a grueling disciplinary position every day for eight hours, with the top of his head against a wall, his fingers interlaced behind his head and his feet raised off the ground," the L.A. Police Department said.
"He saw the mom and the (stepfather), but he hadn't seen the sisters for two years," Henson said.
Mitch Comer told investigators he lived mostly in Georgia, though the family moved to Arizona and perhaps other places before returning.
After Los Angeles police contacted Paulding County authorities, Paul and Sheila Comer were arrested, and the teen's sisters – ages 13 and 11 – were put into protective custody, Henson said.
One of Donovan's investigators flew to Los Angeles and escorted the teen back to Georgia, where a family volunteered to take him in "until we can get things moving or … find a better placement," Donovan said.
"According to my investigator whom I sent to L.A. to pick him up and take him home, he is a very sweet, very polite young man who loves to read, and who said that his greatest desire is to just live a normal life," Donovan told "CNN Newsroom."
Henson said the charges against Paul and Sheila Comer relate only to the 18-year-old. Investigators have yet to speak to the girls in-depth, Henson said.
Sheila Comer's attorney, Renee Rockwell of Atlanta, said Friday that her client will plead not guilty. She said that she couldn't say a lot about the case yet.
"The investigation is just starting. I'm sure there's a lot that is going to come out sooner or later, just a lot of facts that have yet to be disclosed to the public," Rockwell said Friday.
Paul and Sheila Comer have not had any contact with each other since the arrests, Rockwell said.
A call to the office of Paul Comer's attorney, W. Scott Smith of Atlanta, wasn't immediately returned Friday.
The FBI and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are among the agencies investigating the case, Henson said.
Henson said his department wants to give "all the credit to retired Sgt. Gonzales" and the Los Angeles Police Department for flagging the case.
"Without (Gonzales') watchful eye and his experience, (Mitch Comer) might never have been found, and he might not have survived," Henson said.
– CNN's Brooke Baldwin contributed to this report.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Bad enough what his step-father did but his own mother should rot in hell. Amazing how cruel human beings can be.
Can't wait to see how Nancy Grace handles this one since the mother's attorney is her pal, Renee Rockwell. Will she address it- will she have Renee on- will she let her get away with the Hedda Nussbaum defense? Stay tuned!
Neighbors reported that this woman was not allowed to leave the house without him. He even accompanied her to the mailbox. She might have been as much a prisoner as the kids. I will reserve judgement until more is known about the situation before condemning her.
You are a sick person. May karma strike you hard for turning a poor human being's torment into your private joke.
I think it's funny. It wasn't about the kids. It is a joke against the people that let abuse continue. They always get off scott free.
Although you're right to say that ; sometimes there's a reason why people act like their brain cells went on vacation....
At a small private christian college in Pensacola, FL; a student was acting like a jerk (talking like Banasy, etc.), until other students were telling him to shut up. Later in the day we found out his brother was killed that morning and he had to wait until that night to catch a plane home. The college was a strict one and would not let him skip any classes ; but they should have.
All this to say that some people are walking wounded and some are just weirdos...and NONE of them should be posting online or better yet , speaking to anyone at all.
Although you're right to say that ; sometimes there's a reason why people act like their brain cells went on vacation....
At a small private christian college in Pensacola, FL; a student was acting like a jerk (talking like Banasy, etc.), until other students were telling him to shut up. Later in the day we found out his brother was killed that morning and he had to wait until that night to catch a plane home. The college was a strict one and would not let him skip any classes ; but they should have.
@ Craig: you're correct. Maybe Banasy is that kid from Pensacola christian college in FL who was made to endure a day of classes after finding out his brother was killed by his stepfather that morning ? He (the college kid) was a mess that day and no one could stand to listen to him....I have nothing against religion, but those people were wrong; IMO.
Belladonna Cove:
Lol.
Yeah, okay.
You just keep on, keeping on, little mister; you GO with your bad little self.
That man should be killed as soon as possible.
Hopefully a loving family will take him and his sisters together so he and they can return to a joyous family life. I'm sure the girls were living in terror that something like that would happen to them. I just can't understand how people can be so cruel to a child.
How many other sick cases like this are out there that we don't know about. We rant about conditions in Chinese factories, but probably there are many more children and women being tormented here in the U.S. that we don't know about. Isn't it about time that we begin to start looking at how dire our own situation is before ranting about human rights in a country on the opposite side of the world? Yet most Americans seem to be more passionate about the latter for some reason.
you re comparing apples to oranges...one does not justiy the other
I think the key word in human rights is human. Do we really need to pick & choose who they should be applied to? Every human deserves basic rights, no matter what village they hail from.
Could spit on that mother!~
Just when I've about heard it all – what a MAJOR SICKO – I couldn't help but click on it – hoping it was farce – my BAD!
Troll la la.
yup, they probably are christians. republicans too.
that is an unfair judgment. not all Christians are like that!
The bible disagrees.
Ah, the crystal ball seer speaks!
You are obviously a moRon
Abusive parents may try to 'justify' the harsh treatment of children by citing religion or other ideology but it is just the most convenient shield from criticism they have, not a marker of true belief.
tldr; Religion doesn't cause this, it just gets blamed for it when abusers try to deflect the blame from themselves.
..i hope athorities start looking into how you treat your kids...
I would hope that he doesn't have the capability to reproduce. That being said I doubt highly he could get laid in a ten cent wh0re house on nickel night with his charm.
Hillbilly humor.
That's not it. You think Government should be large and in charge of your life. That's not the way it's supposed to be. God gave us 10 commandments to live by and we are unable to keep but a few of those in our everyday lives. The economics are terrible for many individuals and families. I think that if you haven't any Hope then you are the evil in this worlds child. I believe that evil is alive and well and walking among us. We as humans need something to hold onto and when there is nothing then there and it's all stripped away then this is the kind of world we have. It's dreadful..
I love how you talk about evil and then mention 10 commandments. The same ten commandments from a bible supposedley written from the word of a God who also commanded that whole nations and people be destroyed because they were living on land he wanted to give to his 'special' people. Better to look elsewhere for moral guidance.
Funny how your user name is "afreeman," but you talk as if you don't know the Lord or even believe in GOD. Do you think you wake up every morning on your own, and each breath you take is by your own will hun? LOL WoW some people.. I would rather live my life as there is a GOD and die and found out there is not then to live life like there is not and die to find out there is!!! THANK YOU JESUS, every knee shall bow and every tounge confess!! So get them lips ready!!!
No thanks I know that I am right.
Don't forget what he did to Job just to pump up his own ego, or how he wiped the earth away in a flood, or how he commanded a father to sacrifice his son on an altar. Yeah, he's totally worth following.
Actually that is not an actual biblical account. It was a reason for the battle which was provoked by the Amalekites against Moses & his people.
Exodus 17:8-15
8The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”
10So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
14Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
15Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. 16He said, “For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord. Thec Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”
Look into why He chose to give that land to his "chosen" people and it will make more sense. It will be easier if you focus on who occupied that land and how they angered God as opposed to focusing on the Jews. It actually makes a lot of sense. Good luck.
It is society's responsibility to protect children from individuals who make poor choices in the name of whatever excuse/reason under God's sun
I agree. Those people should be in prison forever. But what do you mean it is society's job to protect children? How could the kids be protected in this case? No one knew what was happening. Is the govt supposed to check on every kid in the country and search people's homes just to make sure no kids are being mistreated or abused?
Kelly51, You speak of god. But it humane to not let your religion dictate your actions but allow or morals to. No need for religion in being good.
No I want someone looking out for children whose parents mistreat them. I don't care what religion the parents are or of they have a religion What matters is that someone with the power to protect the children actually can do it. Nice to live by the ten commandments, but funny there seems to be nothing in them about mistreating your children. I am with afreemen a God who murdered masses of people so his pet people could take what they wanted including children and babies is not a God I would choose to follow if I had a sense of morality.
Which part of the Bible did you read that God's pet people (??) could take what they want including kids and babies? Can you cite where you found that?
Throughout history, God has allowed evil to happen. He doesn't seem to stop it so don't exept life on earth to get any better.
God doesn't allow evil things to happen. It is called free-will. People have choices in their actions.
God does not allow evil to happen. It is called free-will. People have a choice on what they do with their lives.
Congratulations. You used up a lot of words without saying anything.
That was supposed to be a reply to Kelly51.
Actually on his way to the mountain Moses found some peyote and then wrote the commandments. I mean lets get real...lol
god, (through his surrogate) gave out 4 commandments solely for the purpose of worshiping him and six decent moral code commandments to live by. And in Genesis 1:14 he previously ordered "watch the stars" for signs.
And Alan Greenspan thought Wall Street would regulate itself.
@Iceman,ask Allan Greenspan about Reagans stealing from SocialSecurity in "83 to balance the budget deficet,he also tripled the size of the budget under his watch,so where were those so called fiscally conservatives then.Ya get an IOU in the mail for what he stole too,I didn't.And some here talking about religion and how they are in life,ask Romney the Mormon moron on how's its accepted practice the art of lying to protect their lord or for themselves,that's why he's good at it he's a bishop ain't he!!He'll lie till the cows come home,a pathelogical one at that,just wait to the debates then game over, his lies can't run and neither can he!!!
I don't understand half of what you are trying to say... but if you are saying big government is bad... you chose the wrong article to comment on!! This kid was rescued by the government, and the government is going to provide for him until he develops independent living skills. FYI "big government" fills in the gaps that people should out of the kindness of their hearts, but DON'T.
you are frightening. Please keep your religious thoughts to yourself.
You need to lay off the drugs...........seriously!!!!!!!
Ease up on the bath salts and maybe try to make a coherent comment that applies to the subject at hand.
This young man was horribly abused by the persons whom he should have been able to trust the most to take care of and watch over him. His "parents". There was probably also a reason he was isolated from his sisters for the last 2 years of his "confinement". There is more coming on this sad story I'm sure. I only hope that the children can now get the help that they obviously need. I wish them good luck.....
Georgia is another Republican state. This is the GOP's secret, most of their support is based in these uneducated hilly-billy communities. The GOP would hold us all in the stone ages if they could, and they're trying.
Bowders – Your generalization is inane. That would be like me saying "The 47% of the population who don't pay taxes are ALL Democrats" (close probably, but not all). With your logic, you have been thinking with the back end of the Democratic donkey.
"(close probably, but not all)"
There goes your credibility, McIver3
I agree with Iceman, you totally threw any credibility you had out the door.
Looks like its time for some good ol' fashion payback. Think prison gangs don't get internet? When it comes to torture, what goes around, comes around.
jail please, throw away the damn key
They're trash – both of them – just trash.
They're human beings. Terrible human beings, but still human beings.
Reclassifying your fellow humans as 'trash' is a step down the road they took; the idea that a child is dirty or evil and that punishment - any punishment - is justified and in fact _virtuous_, so punishment should be continuous and an ends unto itself!
...that having been said, I agree with you. Utter garbage.
What a horrific, disturbing case. Kudos to Sgt. Joe Gonzales for saving this poor teen–I hope the boy and his sisters get a chance at a normal life now.