MADISON, Wis. -- A member of a group accused of killing one of their own and torturing an 11-year-old boy spoke to reporters in jailhouse interviews.

Candace Clark told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Saturday that violence began shortly after Easter when Tammie Garlin said she had a sexual fantasy about Clark.

Investigators said they found Tammie Garlin's body buried behind the home the group was renting in Portage. Authorities said that a medical examination indicated that Garlin was strangled.

Clark said tensions grew after Garlin "blurted" out her feelings.

Clark, her boyfriend Michael Sisk, Michaela Clerc and Tammie Garlin's 15-year-old daughter Felicia are charged with being a party to first-degree homicide in the death of Tammie Garlin. The four are also accused of torturing Garlin's 11-year-old son.

Clark said that Clerc was angry because she and Garlin had been lovers. Clark said Sisk was also angry and that he controlled the group and considered them a "cult."

Clark spoke Saturday from the Columbia County Jail.

On Friday Clark wouldn't say who killed Tammie Garlin, but added that the boy needed discipline.

"I'm not a monster, not a monster," Clark said.

Last Friday, authorities said that they made surprising discoveries at a Portage house after being tipped off that one of its occupants might have abducted her own 2-year-old daughter from Florida.

In addition to finding Tammie Garlin's body and the missing 2-year-old, who was OK, investigators said they found Garlin's 11-year-old son severely abused, malnourished and hidden in a closet, police said.

Police officials have described the alleged abuse as some of the worst they've seen, WISC-TV reported. The boy was hospitalized and three other young children with the group are in foster care.

Contractor: Girl Could Have Been Located Sooner

A simple number from a police report might have helped find a missing Florida 2-year-old girl sooner.

A review by a private child welfare agency that was responsible for the girl's protection showed a bureaucratic maze in which a case worker tried for months to locate her. But the worker was stymied by a run of problems, including an inability to get a police report number and bad luck trying to locate the mother.

The review said the search was made more difficult by a mother moving from state to state allegedly using fake names.

Two Florida police officers were honored Friday in Tallahassee, Fla., for their detective work that broke the case.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine they would find what they would find when they got to that house," said Melissa Remy, of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. "It's just a horror story, but when I found out by what we did that we saved the lives of four children, not just the one we were looking for, it was just a great feeling."

Boy Still Recovering At UW Hospital

The 11-year-old boy who was allegedly abused and tortured in the home remains at University of Wisconsin Hospital.

UW physicians aren't commenting about the condition of the boy that they're treating, but they said that they have concerns for children who are victims of abuse and that they work to prevent it.

The UW Hospital's child protection program sees hundreds of abuse cases a year, and Barbara Knox, the medical director for the program, said that there are many concerns for children who are victims of abuse.

"We become very concerned about post-traumatic stress for these children. We also become very concerned about depression and other forms of mental illness," she said. "We try to work very closely as a team here in the Madison community to make sure that children can move forward."

She said that beyond physical injuries, there are many other concerns for victims.

"In my experience of dealing with many cases of child torture, one of the most important things is we offer children intervention," Knox said.

Court documents released this week said that Knox told police that she believes the boy is a victim of serial torture, suffering burns on his hands that are so bad it caused mummification and restricted use of his fingers.

The records also said that the boy told authorities that he was repeatedly being burned by scalding hot water, was whipped daily with an extension cord, and had to drink water gallons of water until he vomited. He was profoundly malnourished -- given only one meal a day -- and the doctor concluded that he had been neglected medically and educationally, the documents said.

Review: Relative Warned Clark Might Grab Daughter, Flee

A review by a child advocacy group said that that two months before Clark allegedly took her toddler from a foster home and left central Florida, a relative told a caseworker that she was likely to do it.

Last week, authorities tracked down Clark in Wisconsin and said there were grounds for dozens of criminal charges at a Portage house where she was living.

The Miami Herald obtained the written review that was done by the Safe Children Coalition on the handling of Clark's child welfare case.

It said that a relative told Clark's caseworker in a phone call on Aug. 15, 2006, about concerns Clark would abscond with the 2-year-old girl. Clark had already done two stints in jail last year, and the girl had certain injuries that raised worries about her safety.

Caseworkers said that they discovered Clark falsified information provided to the child welfare agency. Then, in early October, a caregiver for the child told a foster-care caseworker she had "released" the girl to her mother, Clark.

On Jan. 19, the caseworker filed a missing children's report with police.

The handling of the case is under investigation by Florida authorities.

Local Banks Take Donations For Children

Community members are collecting donations for the children who lived in the house. The effort, called Portage Cares, is organized by the Portage Daily Register. The newspaper will accept noncash donations. Monetary donations can be sent in care of Portage Cares to four area banks.

Organizers encourage people to label all envelopes with "C/O Portage Cares" under the address.

Portage National Bank 2380 New Pinery Rd. Portage, WI 53901

AMCORE Bank 611 E. Wisconsin St. Portage, WI 53901

AMCORE Bank 2851 New Pinery Rd. Portage, WI 53901

Associated Bank 222 E. Wisconsin St. Portage WI 53901

Community Bank of Portage 2930 New Pinery Rd. Portage, WI 53901

Stay tuned to WISC-TV and Channel 3000 for continuing coverage.