Mom Accused of Abuse Says She's Ill

.c The Associated Press

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (AP) - A woman accused of keeping her two sons chained to their beds said she had been taking medication for mental illness but denied torturing or abusing her children.

``I'm mental,'' Carrie Lee Davis told the Riverside Press-Enterprise in a jailhouse interview published Saturday.

Davis, 41, her 52-year-old husband, John, and 46-year-old Faye Potts pleaded innocent on Wednesday to torture, child abuse and false imprisonment. They could face life in prison if convicted.

Davis said she had been taking medication to control suicidal impulses and voices in her head but had not received it since her arrest last week.

``I hate this world. You can't be free in this world,'' said Davis, who told the newspaper she wanted to go ``home'' to heaven and do ``whatever God wants.''

Police raided the Davis' makeshift desert compound on Oct. 14 after the couple's 17-year-old son Yahweh called 911 to say he and his 12-year-old brother were chained in a bedroom.

Deputies found the boys malnourished, and scars on their backs indicated they had been beaten, authorities said. Dog chains were attached to their bedposts.

The children, who are in county child welfare custody, were severely underdeveloped. Prosecutor Linda Root said the boys were fed only rice and bread, were hosed off monthly instead of being bathed or showered, never saw a doctor and had home schooling that consisted mainly of religious instruction.

Davis denied harming her children and disputed her son's allegations.

``Yahweh is a liar and undependable,'' she told the newspaper. ``He steals from the family.''

Authorities said that Potts was baby-sitting when the oldest son called 911 and that she later called the emergency line to say the boy's distress call had been a prank.

Potts told the newspaper that the boy called because he was trying to leave a strict home. ``The media has convicted us on hearsay based on what the kids say,'' she said. ``The only punishment that kid ever had was to read the Bible.''

Meanwhile, tests were being conducted to determine whether two bone fragments found about 20 miles from the home are the remains of a third Davis child.

Authorities said the Davises told them that a child of about 6 named Rainbow Lord died about 10 years ago. Sheriff's investigators excavated a possible gravesite and recovered bones last week but have not determined whether they are human.

AP-NY-10-21-00 2247EDT