"John" ELI and "Jane" ELI - 8 and 2 yo/ Accused: Reuben Mulamba - Ellensburg/ Seattle WA

SEATTLE —
Two
Ellensburg children are in a Seattle hospital and their mother and her
boyfriend are in the Kittitas County Jail in what police are calling one
of the more gruesome child abuse cases they’ve seen.

The
alleged abuse happened at the Anchor M apartments, just north of Central
Washington University, police said. An 8-year-old boy and a 4-year-old
girl were beaten so badly they had to be rushed to hospitals.
“This
is probably one of the more gruesome cases that I’ve been exposed to,”
Ellesnburg police Captain Dan Hansberry said. “From being spanked with
cords, or at one point pliers are reported to have been used on their
bodies.”
Reuben Mulamba, 27, is in jail on accusations he assaulted the
children, who are his girlfriend’s. The mother, 23-year-old Ashly Eli,
was also arrested on accusations of not promptly getting medical
treatment for her children.

Police said the children’s wounds indicated a pattern of assaults over a period of weeks.
“Some (wounds) are infected because they haven’t been treated; others are still fresh,” Hansberry said.
Neighbors KIRO 7’s Chris Legeros spoke to said they had no idea what was going on.
“I think it’s horrible,” neighbor Anna Teig said. “It’s unbelievable that it could happen.”

Many
parents said they found it hard to accept that a mother would hesitate
to report the abuse or delay taking the kids to a doctor. Police said
Eli was afraid to involve officers because she didn’t want to let
herself in trouble.

“I feel sorry for her, but to let
somebody do that to your kids – I have two kids of my own, and there’s
no way,” said Vicki Carlson, another neighbor.

“I could never imagine my son hurting and not taking him to a hospital,” Teig said.

The
apartment manager told Legeros that Mulamba moved in last fall and that
Eli wasn’t on the lease. He said there was an argument at the apartment
two weeks ago, one that police broke up, but the couple wasn’t around
much, and he only saw the little girl one time.
http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/crime-law/2-ellensburg-kids-hospitalized-gruesome-child-abus/nHSPx/