A South Carolina couple has been taken into custody after becoming the subject of horrific allegations of abuse. Pastor Myron Chorbajian of 1st Southern Methodist Church in Greenville is accused of physically, sexually, and psychologically abusing several of his adopted children. His wife, Kathleen Chorbajian, is criminally accused of failing to intervene or report the abuse.
Editor’s note: This article refers to disturbing reports of child abuse that some readers might find triggering.
According to FOX Carolina, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation into the couple in April after a victim reported “extensive abuse” that went as far back as the 1980s.
Authorities allege that all of the male victims were physically abused and that all of the female victims were sexually abused. Myron and Kathleen Chorbajian had seven adopted children and one biological daughter.
Myron Chorbajian is accused of sexually assaulting several of the children and forcing one child to “search dumpsters and eat rotten and discarded food.” He is accused of forcing one child to sleep in a trash can for three days.
Chorbajian is also accused of beating the children. In one instance, he is accused of paddling a naked victim 50 times. In another instance, he is accused of beating a child with a belt until the child lost consciousness. He is alleged to have punched a child in the face.
Chorbajian is accused of killing two of the children’s pets. In one instance, he is accused of running over a child’s kitten before shooting the kitten in the head while the child was present. In another instance, he is accused of shooting a child’s dog in the presence of the child and then forcing the child to bury the dog.
According to WHNS, two of the victims have since died, but the causes of their deaths have not been publicly disclosed.
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Kathleen Chorbajian is alleged to have known about at least some of the instances of sexual abuse and did not report them. She is also accused of failing to intervene when children were beaten or otherwise abused and neglected.
