EVANS, W. Va (WDTV/Gray News) - A couple was arrested after three children reported years of abuse in what a sheriff called a "house of horrors" in West Virginia.

Erica Lynn Sayre and her husband, Clifford Gale Sayre, are charged with child neglect and child abuse, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

Jackson County Sheriff RH Mellinger detailed the abuse and called the children's living environment a "house of horrors."The investigation uncovered years of "disturbing" maltreatment, including the children being repeatedly hit, strangled, deprived of food and water, denied bathroom privileges, having soiled cat litter dumped in their beds and dog feces on personal items, and being forced to run barefoot on a gravel driveway as a means of punishment for any conflicts with Erica Sayre, according to authorities.