Roy foster parents arrested for abusing 3 sons, police say


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ROY — A husband and wife who have been licensed to provide foster care in Utah since 2013 have been arrested for investigation of abusing their sons.

Matthew Earl Waldmiller, 40, and his wife, 41-year-old Diane Seifert Waldmiller, were each booked into the Weber County Jail for investigation of two counts of intentionally inflicting serious physical injury on a child, according to jail records.

The couple came to the attention of police Thursday when the Utah Division of Child and Family Services contacted detectives about a neglect complaint the agency had received on March 17, Roy Police Sgt. Matt Gwynn said.

"We began our investigation immediately," Gwynn said.

Investigators who went to the Waldmillers' Roy home reported that the couple's three sons — ages 7 to 11 — had been locked in a bedroom for 10 to 13 hours at a time, Gwynn said. There were three twin mattresses on the floor in the room without any bedding, and the light fixture in the room did not have a bulb, investigators said.

"The only exterior window in the bedroom was painted black and screwed shut," Gwynn said.

Detectives developed information that the window was screwed shut after the boys "escaped from the room to go dumpster diving at a nearby school for food," the sergeant said.

"As punishment for that (the Waldmillers) made the boys eat white rice that had been heavily seasoned with salt and cayenne pepper," Gwynn said.

Two of the boys had marks on their wrists that indicated they had been bound with plastic zip ties, the sergeant said. The children appeared to be underweight, and there was also evidence their eyes and mouths had been covered with duct tape at some point, Gwynn said.

"This was not reckless. It was not negligent," he said. "This was intentional."

Public records obtained Saturday from the Utah Office of Licensing show Matthew and Diane Waldmiller have been continuously licensed as foster care providers since August 2013. They were in good standing with no agency actions against them, the records show.

The Waldmillers adopted three boys in October 2015, according to posts on their individual Facebook pages. At the time of their arrests, they were fostering a 2-year-old girl, according to Gwynn. There is no evidence the girl suffered any abuse, he said.

"We think this might have been 'discipline' directed at the boys," the sergeant said, "but we really don't know what the motivation behind this is."

DCFS spokeswoman Ashley Sumner said she could not speak specifically about the Waldmillers' case, but Department of Human Services' policy requires the state agency's Office of Services Review to investigate any allegations against foster care providers to prevent potential conflicts of interest.

"Our first consideration is child safety," Sumner said, "and we work with law enforcement to determine what happened and what is best for the safety of the children."

All four children have been removed from the Waldmillers' home, Gwynn said. No formal charges had been filed against the couple Saturday. Jail records show Matthew and Diane Waldmiller are each being held in lieu of $31,500 bail.

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