Pierce County prosecutors on Wednesday charged the wife of a Central Pierce Fire & Rescue lieutenant who committed suicide while being investigated for allegedly sexually abusing two of the couple’s adopted daughters.
Drew Ann Hamrick of Eatonville was charged with two counts of tampering with a witness, aggravated unlawful imprisonment and fourth-degree criminal mistreatment.
She is accused of covering up the alleged molestation, hitting the couple’s 12-year-old daughter with a metal spatula and locking their 14-year-old daughter in a bedroom for up to a week without food, water or access to a bathroom.
She is expected to turn herself in this morning with her attorney and be arraigned, Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist said.
She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on all counts .
The allegations came to light June 18 after one of the Hamricks’ grown sons told authorities his adopted sisters were possibly being abused.
Scott Hamrick, 47, committed suicide June 30 on the family’s ranch, sheriff’s records show. He was aware he was being investigated for the alleged abuse, sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer has said.
During interviews last month, the youngest daughter, age 12, said her father had been molesting her “ever since I can remember” and that he threatened to kill himself if she told anyone, according to court documents.
She also said her mother hit her with a metal spatula once or twice a month.
Another daughter, age 14, told investigators Scott Hamrick had been sexually abusing her for nine years and that he told her not to tell anyone because it would “ruin the family and they would live on the streets,” charging documents state.
The girl also said she was regularly denied food for days at a time and locked in her bedroom with only a bucket to use to relieve herself. When she snuck out a window to get food at a neighbor’s house, the girl said, her parents screwed her window shut and put plywood over the window.
In May, Eatonville police were called to the girl’s school because she was accused of stealing an iPod and sending a friend messages that said Scott Hamrick was abusing her.
The officer questioned the girl about the abuse with the Hamricks standing next to her, and the girl denied the allegations, documents show.
Shortly after that, Drew Ann Hamrick told at least two of her sons that her husband was abusing two of their daughters and that she had forced them to write statements denying the abuse. The sons eventually decided to call police.
Two of the other daughters also claim Scott Hamrick sexually abused them in the past.
The Hamricks held a state license to be foster parents from October 1997 to September 2004.
“During that time, they had roughly 17 children placed in the home,” state Department of Social and Health Services spokeswoman Sherry Hill said.
Most of the foster children were girls, and some stayed as little as a few days. Five girls were eventually adopted.
Hill said no complaints were filed against the Hamricks while they were foster parents, but two complaints from 2008-2010 were determined to be unfounded.
A third complaint was reported in 2009 by a neighbor’s daughter who claimed Scott Hamrick tried to kiss her, but it was referred to the Sheriff’s Department because it was a criminal matter rather than a family matter.
The girls are staying with family members, Hill said.
Stacia Glenn: 253-597-8653 stacia.glenn@thenewstribune.com
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