Ex-foster children: Abuse was routine in dismembered teen's home

Before her torturous death, Grace Packer grew up in a hell of emotional, physical and sexual abuse, according to three children fostered by the adoptive mother who now stands charged, along with her boyfriend, of killing and dismembering the 14-year-old girl as part of a barbaric rape-murder fantasy.

Police said Sara Packer, a former county adoptions supervisor, watched as her boyfriend, Jacob Sullivan, beat and raped Grace, who was then bound, gagged and left to die in a sweltering attic.

Returning the next day and finding Grace still alive, Sullivan strangled her, court documents state.

They stored her body in cat litter for months, then hacked it up and dumped it in a remote area, where hunters found it in October, police said.

In separate interviews with The Associated Press, the now-grown former foster daughters, all of whom lived with Sara Packer several years before Grace's rape and murder, said Sara abused her adopted daughter and clearly favored Grace's biological brother, who also was adopted.

"Her favorite child, and you could see it plain as day, had always been Gracie's brother," said Jade Tenezaca, now 27. "She was more demanding on Gracie to be normal. But Gracie is not normal. Gracie had a learning disability."

Tenezaca recounted an episode that, in hindsight, seems chilling. Sara was watching the TV crime drama "CSI" once and casually mentioned if she ever killed someone, she'd dismember the body and burn the pieces to ash, Tenezaca said.

"It kind of freaked me out," she said.

Sara and her husband at the time, David Packer, fostered dozens of children before David was arrested in 2010 and sent to prison for sexually assaulting Grace and a 15-year-old foster daughter at their home in Allentown, Pennsylvania, about an hour north of Philadelphia.

Sara Packer lost her job as an adoptions supervisor for nearby Northampton County in April 2010, and she was barred from taking in any more foster children.

But she wasn't charged with a crime related to her husband's abuse, and Grace and her brother continued to live in the home.

Pennsylvania's child-welfare agency is investigating the circumstances around Grace's death.

The abused foster daughter, now 25, told the AP the sexual abuse by David Packer began when she was 15, shortly after she moved into the home, and went on for years.

The AP is withholding the name of the woman because she is a victim of sexual abuse.

David moved the woman to a third-floor bedroom near the one he shared with Sara, she said.

He would tie her to the bedpost and leave her there all night, she said.

He would tie her to a chair and gag her.

He dressed her in revealing outfits and made her go on a diet. He sexually abused her.

She said she felt she had nowhere to turn.

"After a while, I just gave up, mentally and physically. What was I supposed to do?" said the woman, adding she twice tried killing herself while living in the home and was hospitalized.

Sara Packer had to know about the abuse, the woman said.

Prosecutors said Sara Packer was aware of her husband's sexual contact with the foster daughter at least by the time the girl became an adult.

The now-grown foster daughter said she was unaware at the time David Packer also was abusing Grace. But, she said, she saw Sara Packer treat Grace horribly.

"Some parts of (Grace's) brain didn't work like ours, and you'd have to tell her more than a few times to do things. And Sara didn't like that. She yelled; she screamed. She hit her. She was just a big bully to her," the woman said.

Sara Packer's lawyer said he has not seen police or child-welfare files from the 2010 investigation of David Packer and does not have evidence his client was involved in wrongdoing.

He noted she maintained custody of Grace and her brother after David went to prison.

"It's a good sign they investigated the family and didn't pull the kids," said the lawyer, John Fioravanti Jr. "That suggests they didn't think she was involved."

The defense team has just begun to investigate Sara's life and the criminal charges, Fioravanti said.

Her work history in Northampton County -- rising from case worker to supervisor over seven years before she was fired amid her husband's criminal investigation -- suggests she was a dedicated child-care worker, he said.

Given those accomplishments, he said, "it's just beyond belief that all of a sudden you have this monster."

Sara and David Packer divorced last year.

Crystal Rodack, a third former foster daughter, spent only a few months in the Packer home.

But in January 2010, she said, she looked at David Packer's phone and found photos and videos showing him sexually abusing the other foster daughter.

She alerted relatives, who immediately called police.

Rodack said she always felt uncomfortable in the home. And, like the other former foster children, she said Grace took a back seat to her brother.

"They were really mean to Gracie in the home. She was always in trouble," Rodack said. "They would hit her; they would ground her and take stuff from her and keep her in her room. I felt bad for her."

Rubinkam reported from the Allentown area. Dale reported from the Philadelphia area.