Child Molesters, Child Abuse Effects: Bulimia, Eating Disorders, Addictions

Four children are in protective custody, with two of them hospitalized, the mother and boyfriend are in jail.

As Volunteer TV’s Ron Sprowl reports, the children, ages five, four, three and one all suffered abuse. The three year old girl and the one year old boy remain hospitalized.

23-year-old Stephanie Jo Allen and her live-in boyfriend 20-year-old Phillip Cory Reep were taken into custody Sunday night at their Ripon Circle residence.

Authorities went to their home to look for Reep after the children's grandmother called deputies concerning the welfare of her grandchildren.

Authorities say Allen first told them he was not there, that's when police say they saw the conditions of the children.

"The three-year-old girl was severely burned parts of the lower parts of her body. She had bruises and knots all over the head. The one-year-old, as well, knots and bruising over the body and head," said Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison. "The five-year-old, the four-year-old, three-year-old all told us that it was momma's boyfriend Cory that did those things to them."

Deputies did find Reep inside the house hiding in a bathroom near the bedroom.

Sheriff Hutchison also says the mother told detectives she knew nothing about the abuse, didn't know it was happening and really wasn't that concerned.

She's jailed on a $700,700 bond; boyfriend Reep's bond is $1.2 million