The LAFFERTY Children - 5 and 3 yo (2011) - Martinsburg WV

MARTINSBURG - A new trial date has been set for a 33-year-old
Berkeley County man accused of starving his 5-year-old son and
3-year-old daughter by keeping them locked in a basement.

Jesse A.
Lafferty, who currently is incarcerated at Eastern Regional Jail, was
indicted in February on two counts of child abuse causing serious bodily
injury, child abuse causing bodily injury and gross child neglect
creating a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or death and one
count of felony conspiracy to commit child abuse. Lafferty's trial had
been scheduled to start today, but it was continued until Aug. 30 by
West Virginia 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher Wilkes following a
hearing Monday.The pretrial hearing for Lafferty is set for 3 p.m. Aug. 29.
http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/564929/Lafferty-trial-slotted-to-be-hel---.html

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. —

The trial for a Berkeley County man accused of
starving two children in his care and locking them in the basement of
his home was postponed until Jan. 24 to allow his new attorney more time
to prepare for the case.

Jesse A. Lafferty, 33, of 292 Labonte
Drive, along with his girlfriend, Karen S. Boback, were indicted on
felony charges of child abuse causing serious bodily injury, gross child
neglect creating substantial risk of bodily injury or death and conspiracy.

Defense attorney Christopher J. Prezioso was appointed last month to
represent Lafferty after his public defender, Joseph Whiteoak III,
requested to withdraw from the case, citing an ethical conflict involving his office.

http://www.herald-mail.com/news/tristate/hm-trial-postponed-for-man-accused-of-starving-children-20110906,0,4845485.story

A Berkeley County man has pleaded guilty to forcing his two malnourished children to sleep in a concrete basement.
Thirty-four-year-old Jesse Arlo Lafferty pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of child abuse causing serious bodily injury.

Lafferty faces up to 10 years in prison on each count. Sentencing has been set for July 16 in Berkeley County Circuit Court.

Boback told police Lafferty made the children take cold showers and sleep in the basement.

Lafferty told the court he willfully withheld food from the children as punishment.

Lafferty's co-defendant and former girlfriend, Karen S.
Boback, is accused of failing to alert authorities. Media outlets
report she is set to appear in court next Monday for a plea hearing.

Boback told police Lafferty made the children take cold showers and sleep in the basement.

The children are now with their biological mother.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/09316cabd90f48bea799ff44775ef14f/WV--Underweight-Children/