Cruelty To Children

There is no Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.  Society in general is invested in preventing cruelty to children.  The very thought of adult cruelty imposed upon children represents an moral abomination.  Particularly cruelty of a heinous kind like beatings, forced isolation, starvation.  Society is set up to protect the welfare and well-being of the young.

And there are institutions whose sole purpose is to be called upon to act on behalf of those children if any within society suspect or have reason to believe that children are being abused.  In the case of 18-year-old Mitch Comer, who drew attention to himself in public because of his emaciated condition and peculiar skin tone, authorities were alerted to something quite, quite wrong.

His stepfather had given young Paul $200 when he turned 18.  Along with the $200, he handed Paul a list of homeless shelters.  Then he put him on a bus to Los Angeles.  Where he was found, all of five-foot-one, weighing 87 pounds with translucent skin setting him apart from most 18-year-olds.  In the previous several years he hadn't seen the sun at all.

Police were called, and they determined an investigation was in order.  This young boy looked no more than 12 years of age, claiming to be 18.  He informed authorities he had been abused for years after having been taken from school in the eighth grade.  The arrest warrants for Paul and Sheila Comer, his step-father and birth mother noted that the boy had experienced great trauma.

His parents "made Mitch kneel on the floor, bend his head and place his forehead against the wall, and place his hands behind his head for long periods of time".  His siblings, girls of 11 and 13 informed investigators that they heard their brother often cry and scream for food.  Paul Comer informed investigators that it was his habit to bring the boy food at 7 a.m., noon and 7.p.m. daily.

The abused boy informed investigators his world consisted of a bedroom and bathroom, and that food seldom came his way.  Soup or cereal but nothing substantial.  Mitch Comer's mother and stepfather were arrested and now face charges of cruelty to children and false imprisonment.  As a result of the privation Mitch suffered he still had his baby teeth because he was so malnourished.

After Mitch had been placed on a bus heading for Los Angeles a retired police sergeant who worked as a security guard at a downtown bus station noticed the boy.  And from there the authorities took over.