Georgia couple arrested for leaving 3-year-old in a backyard shed without electricity or running water
Douglas County Sheriff’s Office
(DOUGLASVILLE, Ga) — A Georgia couple is now behind bars after allegedly leaving a 3-year-old alone in a backyard shed for weeks, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Sarah Elizabeth Pombert, 34, and Joseph Matthew Turner, 35, were arrested on Monday after allegedly keeping 3-year-old Bjorn Turner in a backyard shed in Douglasville, Georgia, from May 1 to May 22, according to an arrest warrant obtained by ABC News on Friday.
The shed was described as a “dirty living space” that did not have running water or electricity, according to the warrant.
The suspects allegedly left the child “unsupervised, unbathed and unclothed with criminal negligence,” according to the warrant.
The two were arrested for second-degree child cruelty and are currently being held in the Douglas County Jail, according to jail records.
Neither Pombert nor Turner has a defense attorney listed as of Friday, according to court records.
One of the couple’s neighbors, Matthew Govoni, told Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB that the shed burned down during Memorial Day weekend, but officials have not disclosed how they became aware of the child living there.
The Douglas County Fire Department did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Govoni told WSB that Pombert and Turner have lived in their home for more than a decade and was “not surprised” to hear about the child’s living conditions due to “the lifestyle they live.”
“I’m saddened for them and the child, but I mean, for the child, I hope they can get to a place where they can be helped,” Govoni told WSB.
(NEW ORLEANS) — Embattled Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson announced on Wednesday that she is suspending her reelection campaign a day after she accepted blame for the escape of 10 inmates from the New Orleans jail she oversees.
Facing mounting pressure over the mass jailbreak that allegedly involved member of her staff, Hutson said she is suspending her campaign to focus her attention on “security, accountability and public safety.”
Five of the 10 inmates who escaped the jail early Friday remained on the run on Wednesday, including one who is a convicted killer and two who have been charged with second-degree murder.
Hutson’s announcement came as she is faces growing calls from state representatives, crime victims and others to resign.
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Hutson accepted blame for the breakout after a maintenance worker at the Orleans Justice Center, where the breakout occurred, was arrested on charges alleging he helped facilitate the escape. Hutson also announced that four other jail staff have been suspended and are under investigation for possible involvement in the jailbreak.
“I take full responsibility for what happened. This breach happened under my leadership, and it is my responsibility to ensure it is addressed with urgency and transparency,” Hutson said in her statement on Tuesday.
“To date, we have suspended staff, made an arrest, and launched comprehensive internal and external investigations,” she added. “We are also fully cooperating with the independent investigation led by the Louisiana Attorney General, and we have provided full access to all records, surveillance footage, and facility documentation.”
The 10 inmates exited the jail through a wall behind a toilet at 1:01 a.m. on Friday, Hutson said at an earlier news conference. They then made their way off the property through a loading dock door and scaled the perimeter wall using blankets to protect themselves from the barbed wire, according to the sheriff’s office. From there, officials said they had a clear path to the railroad tracks and then the interstate.
The inmates weren’t discovered missing until 8:30 a.m. Friday, when jail officials conducted a routine headcount, sheriff’s officials said.
The U.S. Marshals, Louisiana State Police and Probation and Parole were not notified of the escape until 9:30 a.m. on Friday, the sheriff’s office said. New Orleans police officials said they were notified at 10:30 a.m.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said he didn’t find out until a member of the news media called to ask him to confirm the breakout at about 10 a.m. on Friday. He said the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, which oversees the jail, failed to notify local police and the public immediately.
“The public is the sixth man on the team in a jailbreak. You want to let the public know immediately when something like this happens,” Williams said. “The public was denied the opportunity to participate in this manhunt for eight hours. Law enforcement was denied the opportunity to start looking.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen shares photo of meeting Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador. Via Sen. Chris Van Hollen/ X
(WASHINGTON) — After flying to El Salvador in search of a meeting with the Maryland resident who courts say was erroneously deported from the United States last month, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., shared a photo with Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
The Maryland senator, who flew to the country on Wednesday, shared a photo on X on Thursday evening of him sitting down with Abrego Garcia.
“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return,” Van Hollen said in the post.
Abrego Garcia’s wife was told that the meeting between Abrego Garcia and Sen. Chris Van Hollen was set up by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, a source close to the family told ABC News.
The source said Abrego Garcia and his wife, Jennifer Vasquez, were not able to speak, adding that the family does not know where Abrego Garcia is being held.
In a statement from Vasquez provided by CASA, an immigration advocacy group that is representing the family, Abrego Garcia’s wife said her prayers have been answered.
“My children and my prayers have been answered,” Vasquez said. “The efforts of my family and community in fighting for justice are being heard, because I now know that my husband is alive. God is listening, and the community is standing strong.” “We still have so many questions, hopes, and fears,” Vasquez added. “I will continue praying and fighting for Kilmar’s return home,” she said.
The meeting comes after Van Hollen shared a video on social media earlier on Thursday showing guards stopping him and others from entering CECOT, the prison where Abrego Garcia is being held.
The Supreme Court and a Maryland federal judge ordered that the U.S. government “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. after the Department of Justice said in court filings that the 29-year-old father was wrongfully deported because of an “administrative error.”
The Trump administration has alleged it cannot bring him back and claimed outside of court that Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang.
Further details of the status of Abrego Garcia’s case have not yet been provided.
The White House slammed Van Hollen for making the trip and advocating for Abrego Garcia, claiming with little evidence, that Abrego Garcia is a gang member.
The Justice Department has not charged Abrego Garcia with any gang-related crimes and his alleged MS-13 membership has been disputed in court.
ABC News’ Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Federal prosecutors are urging a judge to sentence disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos to seven years and three months in prison, calling his conduct a “brazen web of deceit” that defrauded donors, misled voters, and fueled his political rise through lies, theft, and identity fraud.
The government outlined the extent of Santos’s fraudulent activity across the 2020 and 2022 election cycles in a detailed sentencing memo filed on Friday.
Prosecutors allege Santos, 35, with the help of former Campaign Treasurer Nancy Marks, falsified Federal Election Commission filings, fabricating donor contributions and inflating fundraising totals to meet the $250,000 threshold required to join the National Republican Congressional Committee’s (NRCC) coveted “Young Guns” program. Marks pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing in June.
When informed he hadn’t reached the NRCC benchmark, Santos texted an associate, “We are going to do this a little differently. I got it.”
That “different” approach included submitting fake donations attributed to family members, fictitious individuals and even identities stolen from elderly supporters, according to the filing.
In tandem, Santos was running a fraudulent political consulting firm, Redstone Strategies LLC, falsely presenting it as a registered Super PAC or 501(c)(4) nonprofit. It was neither, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say Santos used Redstone to launder donor money, keep commissions and fund personal expenses. In one scheme, he used an elderly woman’s credit card — originally provided for a one-time donation — to charge $12,000 through Redstone’s merchant account, netting himself $11,580 after fees. He wired the money directly into his personal bank account.
When questioned by his business partner, Santos lied, claiming the woman — who suffers from a brain injury — was a consulting client, according to the filing. Between February and August 2022, prosecutors say Santos used her credit card repeatedly, attributing donations to her, her daughter, or fictitious names.
Another victim, referred to as “Individual 2” in the filing, had their credit card charged at least five times in March 2022, totaling more than $30,000 in fake campaign contributions, including some attributed to Santos’s uncle and to people who didn’t exist. These donations were strategically routed to other campaigns that were clients of Redstone, ensuring Santos earned a financial kickback while boosting his political visibility.
In July 2020, he used another victim’s credit card to contribute $28,400 to his own campaign, some under the name of a personal friend who neither donated nor gave consent, according to the filing.
In April 2022, prosecutors say Santos falsely reported a $500,000 personal loan to his campaign, enabling him to boast an $800,000 Q1 fundraising haul. He approved a press release promoting the lie and pitched the narrative in conversations with Republican leaders, including a sitting congresswoman. According to the prosecution, the loan never existed.
That lie, combined with his doctored FEC filings and a fabricated resume claiming degrees from NYU and jobs at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, helped Santos secure Young Guns status from the NRCC in June 2022. The designation brought significant support: $103,000 in advertising, $33,000 in polling, and direct contributions from joint fundraising efforts.
However, by fall 2022, campaign staffers discovered the truth. When confronted about the nonexistent loan, Santos admitted it wasn’t real and scrambled to fill the gap by soliciting a $450,000 loan from a donor referred to as “Individual 1” in the filing. Santos wired $400,000 of it to his campaign, never reported it to the FEC, and never repaid the donor. He covered the remaining $100,000 by misappropriating more funds from the same donor via Redstone.
Santos was expelled from Congress in December 2023 and has pleaded guilty wire fraud and aggravated identity fraud.
Defense attorneys said in their own memo Santos deserves no more than two years in prison, arguing he “accepted full responsibility for his actions.”
“This plea is not just an admission of guilt,” Santos told reporters in August. “It’s an acknowledgment that I need to be held accountable like any other American that breaks the law.”
The former congressman’s sentencing is on April 30.
