Judge recuses himself in disturbing Roy child abuse case

Matthew Earl Waldmiller, 40, and his wife, Diane Seifert Waldmiller, 41, were each charged in March with three counts of child abuse, a second-degree felony.

The couple is accused locking their three boys, ages 11, 10 and 7, in their rooms for long periods of time, zip tying their hands behind their backs, putting duct tape over their mouths and eyes, and malnourishing them to the point that the boys would sneak out of their room to go “dumpster diving” for food, court documents state.

A court hearing to decide whether to proceed to a preliminary hearing has now been rescheduled for May 18. The change in date came after 2nd District Judge Joseph Bean recused himself from the case. Judge Michael D. DiReda will now preside over the case, according to court records.

Calls placed by the Deseret News Tuesday to find out why the judge recused himself were not immediately returned.

The investigation began when the Division of Child and Family Services responded to the Waldmillers’ house based on a tip. A case worker found the three boys were sleeping “in a non-ventilated room where there were no lights and the window had been painted with black paint and screwed shut. DCFS also noted three mattresses on the floor without sheets and a strong smell of urine and feces. The door to the bedroom had the door handle reversed so it locked from the outside,” according to the affidavit.

When police arrived the next day, the Waldmillers had tried to make the boys’ room more presentable by putting sheets on the mattresses, installing bed frames and opening the window, according to the warrant.

Still, the investigating officer “found the walls to be covered in what appeared to be black mold, a strong smell of feces and urine existed even though the window was open and a fan was on,” the affidavit states.

The detective found three bags that contained, or had contained, plastic zip ties. One bag held 100 zip ties; the other had only 15 left, and the third was empty, according to police.

The boys “disclosed that they had been zip tied with their hands behind their backs for at least 30 days. They also disclosed that their eyes, head and mouth had been duct taped to keep them from making noise or moving. The children disclosed being hit with a 2×4 board and getting hit again if they cried,” according to the warrant.

Among the other allegations levied in the affidavit, the boys told police about dumpster diving for food, “and losing their clothing if they refused to do five minutes of squats or push-ups, exercises that were required in order to earn the right to read, which in turn earned them the right to eat.”

The Waldmillers are accused of locking the children in their room and leaving them unattended for up to 14 hours at a time with no bathroom break.

The three boys were examined by medical personnel who found various injuries, such as edema on one boy’s legs, various bumps, bruises, “pressure sores” on one boy’s hands and ligature marks, according to the charging documents.

“All three children had bald spots on their scalp and were underweight according to the nurse practitioner,” the charges state.

The Waldmillers have been licensed as foster care providers since August 2013. The couple had adopted the three boys.