Mom blames boy's difficult behavior for extreme weight loss
KELSO, Wash. - The Longview, Wash. mother accused of starving her adopted children lashed out at law enforcement Thursday while testifying in her own defense in a Cowlitz County courtroom.
"You guys stole my children from me," said Rebecca Trebilcock who, along with her husband, Jeff, faces criminal mistreatment charges after being arrested in March 2011.
During her testimony, Rebecca Trebilcock tried to paint her son as a difficult child. Throughout the trial the defense tried to turn the blame on the 13-year-old for why he only weighed as much as a 6-year-old. His mother continued the defense theme, saying the boy had odd behavior and wasn't truthful.
Trebilcock said her attitudes about food weren't to blame. She also said her religious beliefs inspired her to adopt a mostly vegetarian lifestyle for her family and admitted she traveled to Mexico for weight-loss surgery.
She said she cooked ample food for her five adopted kids, but the 13-year-old boy often refused to eat or stole dog food to eat instead of people food. And she said a motion detector in the kitchen wasn't meant to keep him from stealing food in the middle of the night.
"It could keep (him) from getting out of the house," she said.
Trebilcock said she had no idea why the boy would sneak out or what he was doing. She and her husband broke down in tears when her lawyer showed a video of the Trebilcocks and their four adopted daughters during a state supervised visit after the couple's arrest.
The video shows them as an affectionate family with the girls telling the Trebilcocks they love them, but one of the girls testified she didn't know the way the Trebilcocks treated her was wrong until she experienced another way of life in foster care.
Rebecca Trebilcock lashed out at the prosecutor when he asked her about her emotional response at seeing the girls' pictures.
"Because that's all I have left of my daughters: You guys stole my children from me," she said.
Jeff Trebilcock tearfully testified in his own defense the day before, saying that he and his wife would wake up in the middle of the night to find the 13-year-old standing over them. He said the motion detector and gate were installed inside the home to keep the boy from wandering around the house at night.
The case was placed in the hands of the judge at the end of the day. If he finds the couple guilty, according to Washington sentencing guidelines, the Trebilcocks face four to 5 ½ years in prison on the most serious charge of first-degree criminal mistreatment of their son.
The second-degree charges for their daughters carry likely sentences of six to 12 months.
The judge said he will issue his ruling Tuesday at 1 p.m.
I feel that a child is violated by witholding foods that help them grow strong and healthy. Anyone who is of the caliber of this man, should be required to be a Registered Child Abuser. Laws should be enacted to require this status and be required to be shown at all schools, marriage certificate applications etc. So this will follow the abusers throughout life so that some unsuspecting spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend etc doesn't have the same happen to there children from an abuser hiding there past. Almost to the same status of Registered Molesters.
BS mom. They have places you can take "difficult" children to get diagnosis and proper treatment. I guarantee nobody would ever recommend using starvation as a disciplinary technique.
I am curious how the adopted kids are doing now that they are being taken care of. Â I hope they report on that.
I will say it again... there is absolutely no reason for a 13 year old to weigh 49 pounds! Â I have three boys and my youngest at the age of five weighs that much and my 13 year old is more than twice that. Â I am sorry if my kid started to lose weight or not gain any I would have him to a doctors to find out.
They face 4 1/2 to five years for what they did? That seems a bit light for the magnitude of the abuse they inflicted on those kids.Â
 @Kachina Almost everything are justice system does to protect children is a bit light. Sandusky got life but he is the exception not the rule. Many people have committed as bad or worse crimes and only received a few years. I believe the only reason Sandusky got life was because it was such a high profile case they dared not go light like they normally do.
Okay here's my thought and some people might not like it. However, opinions are like assholes we all have one.
My thought is they really truly have no love for these children. They saw dollar signs and thats all they cared about. its like some foster families that take in children. The all mighty dollar is all they can focus on.
I can't even post here the thoughts going through my head about these people. Disgusting isn't a strong enough description.
She's just upset that she won't be getting any more $ from the government for the adopted kids, so now she has to put her hair restoration surgery on hold.
Restoration surgery... cant fix ugly.Â
What these people did to those children is beyond reason.. The little girl said the real zinger " I didn't know they were treating us badly until I saw the right way.. How horribly sad a comment from a child.. Secondly, the boy has gained over 50 lbs since being in their care, so the real lies are being told by the parents.. I hope they get the book thrown at them, these two are disgusting people.. How on earth can you do this to a child ?
total crapbags. there is no reason to blame the child as many parents do, excusing their own insuitability as "care"givers and "guardians" I have an extreme dislike for adults who abuse children in any way. Look at this, they only get 4-5.5 years plus one extra for the girls abuse? they should lose all of their children to the foster care system, too. all of them. agree with someone else who says her dislike for the son is extremely obvious.
It doesn't matter what the Trebilcock's say in court, the evidence is a child who was nearly starved to death, a food storage locker in the Trebilcock's bedroom, and children eating dog food and toothpaste. I really hope the judge throws the book at these abusive, self-centered, criminals.
Is that the mom or the dad?
 @fishfadoo Yes.
Wow, husband testified yesterday and they couldn't get their stories straight? He says the motion detector was to keep the boy out of their bedroom (every hear of a door lock), and she says it was to keep him from going outside.
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And of course, he was difficult, that's why you starve him! But at least she's whacko religious, because then everything is justified in her mind.
@Speedster She is not religious, she is using religion to try and save her own backside, sorry as it is.
I hope the judge gives them both the maximum sentence and takes the kids away from them. For them to blame all their problems on a 13 year old and the court for taking the children away is despicable. The money she used for weight loss surgery should have been used for counseling for the boy if his behavior was that strange that he would starve himself and eat dog food. Her hostility towards this boy is obvious. I hope he doesn't ever have to see these disgusting, fat pieces of feces ever again.
She should have just locked him in a cage. It's a KATU commentor-approved tactic.
@on shing dao Troll.
Apparently, they bought their Webster's Abridged and Doubly Abridged Dictionary at a mobile home park yard sale -- the word "shame" was not included.
I've never understood the evil step-parent (or adoptive one) theme.
People who don't like kids shouldn't take them on. Doing so for a power trip or to suck down State welfare funds is usually the motivation, but it's still a recipe for misery.
Sooner or later, the kids wise up to what a rotten environment they're in, and look for a way to push the old witch into the oven, or follow a trail of bread crumbs someplace else. Evidently these kids did, and here we are.
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Wretched people who do this sort of thing to kids should pay more attention to how things turn out in fairy tales...it's not usually too great for them.
 @Don_Keyshow she might have been leeching off the foster care money or adoption refunds to get that surgery. but i totally agree Don, if a parent doesnt like a child instead of abusing it, they should agree to give it up. it's so hard to convince an abuser though, because they actually enjoy their perverse power trip.
"She also said her religious beliefs inspired her to adopt a mostly vegetarian lifestyle for her family and admitted she traveled to Mexico for weight-loss surgery.And she said a motion detector in the kitchen wasn't meant to keep him from stealing food in the middle of the night. "It could keep (him) from getting out of the house," she said.They say a motion sensor and gate inside the home were part of that plan. Trebilcock says those were actually to keep their oldest adoptive boy from wandering their home at night.
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I seriously have a problem with much of their testimony. Mostly vegetarian? Seems to me both parents did'nt follow the same diet. Neither can decide what the sensor was for... keeping him from going outsied, in the bedroom, or into the pantry? The only children that were under-nurished were the adopted ones. The biological children were fine, and healthy.
 @jonsiesd2 No fooling. You don't get that fat from eating celery and carrot sticks!!
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Hmmm...difficult behavior is to blame? And how about the girls? They are poor excuses as parents, and I'm glad those kids are away from their (lack of) care!
Husband Jeff keeps crying and I've yet to see tears. He's all an act.
 @Rob C And she has a face that could turn new milk into cheese!
@Don_Keyshow .....good one.
 @Rob C  @Don_Keyshow Ummmm I am thinking more like buttermilk...these people make me sick.