Case Of Parents Who Allegedly Used Cattle Prod To Punish Kids Also Involves Horrific Rape Accusations

A South Dakota couple accused of giving their children drugs and shocking them with cattle prods has pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

Lance Lowell Long, 36, and Crystallynn Long, 40, entered the not guilty pleas in a Minnehaha County court on Monday to the slew of charges against them including aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, abuse or cruelty to a minor and distributing marijuana and a controlled substance to a minor, according to the The Argus Leader.

The couple has been accused giving their four children meth and pot and using electric cattle prods against them “if they weren’t listening” or obeying commands, according to court documents obtained by local station KELO.

“A majority of all the children living inside that residence said that had been used on them numerous times for the last three to four years,” Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Captain Josh Phillips wrote in the documents.

Lance and Crystal Lynn Long Photo: Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office

One of the children told investigators Lance had physically and sexually abused her—raping her at least 150 times since she was 14 years old. The teen alleged that if she refused to have sex with him, Lance would use the cattle prod or hit her or tie a dog collar around her thigh to shock her, court documents said.

Another child reported he had been hit with the cattle prod when he was 7 years old and that the abuse continued over the last few years.

The Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office said the alleged abuse involved a 17-year-old boy, 15-year-old girl, 13-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy, the paper reports.

Investigators were alerted to the alleged abuse after someone in the house called police, according to the local station.

The couple was arrested after fleeing to Oklahoma.