WAYNESBORO, Ga. --- Christine Long, whose 11 children were found living in a rundown house without utilities or food, tried to get two of the older children to change their statements to prosecutors, a guardian for the children testified Tuesday.

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"I know what you did last week. I'm very disappointed in you," Mrs. Long reportedly told two of the children who spoke with prosecutors the week before their March 24 supervised visitation with their mother.

Over the objections of Mrs. Long's attorneys Tuesday, Judge David Roper called Nancy Minyard, one of the children's two guardians, to testify about what she learned from Mrs. Long's 16-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son.

The teens told Mrs. Minyard that in addition to expressing her disappointment, Mrs. Long said she knew they gave a different account of their lives than she had. If the stories didn't match, they weren't going to come home, the children quoted Mrs. Long as saying.

Mrs. Long and her husband, Jeremy, are charged with 10 counts of cruelty to children and five counts of failure to educate.

On July 31, law enforcement found Mrs. Long, an 18-year-old daughter and the 10 underage children living in a rural house without running water or electricity.

According to court documents filed by the district attorney, there was no food or beds for the children; two of them had never worn shoes; and none had been vaccinated, given dental care or sent to school. The younger children suffered from malnutrition.

At an emergency hearing last week, Judge Roper blocked an attempt by the Department of Family and Children Services to return the four oldest children to Mrs. Long on a trial basis. The district attorney sought the ruling in part because she feared Mrs. Long could influence the children's testimony.

In their divorce pleadings, Mr. and Mrs. Long blame each other for the alleged neglect of their children.

On Tuesday, Judge Roper said it's apparent his ruling was valid. From now on, he said, any visitation between the Longs and their children must be supervised by one of the guardians appointed for the children, not DFCS.

The children said that at some point during last week's visitation the DFCS worker left the room, Mrs. Minyard testified.

The teenage daughter also reported that Sheriff Greg Coursey was at the visitation and asked her about her foster family's home.

After Tuesday's hearing, Sheriff Coursey said he didn't hear Mrs. Long make any statements to the children about the criminal case. He arrived late and left the room briefly to take a phone call, he said.

The sheriff has attended four visitations Mrs. Long has had with her children and attended a Christmas event at the First Baptist Church in Waynesboro with the children and their mother, he said.

Mrs. Long has supporters in the church, but Sheriff Coursey said he hasn't taken a position in the criminal case, which is now being handled by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

"I was there the first day, when we found the children, and I guess you could say I took a liking to the children ... got personally involved with the kids," Sheriff Coursey said.

He attended last week's visitation because there was a celebration of the 11-year-old's birthday. "He wants to be sheriff one day."

Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.