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DALLAS — The hotel
bathroom was a de facto prison cell — a cramped,
foul space where three young children were starved,
beaten and sexually assaulted for at least nine
months.
The toilet didn't work.
The bathtub was a place to sleep. Meals were rare,
and the two oldest children — once each a healthy 90
pounds — withered to less than 60 pounds.
Each day for reasons
unknown, their mother's boyfriend would force the
10-year-old boy to stand in the corner with his arms
raised above his head; his 5-year-old half brother
had to kneel in another corner, arms also raised.
The disturbing details
emerged in court records that tell the horrific
story of the torture borne by the two boys and their
11-year-old half sister, all of whom have different
fathers. The children were found July 2 after their
mother called a relative to say she feared for her
own life and those of her children.
The 10-year-old, his
face and limbs covered in bruises, told a social
worker that the experience was "my living
nightmare." The 11-year-old said she repeatedly was
sexually assaulted. The 5-year-old was so thin that
bones were visible in his limbs
The children were
rescued by their uncle and police, their ribs
protruding and their bellies distended. After
throwing up food given to them by stunned officials,
the children expressed gratitude at being found.
"God was watching over
us and listening to our prayers," the 11-year-old
said.
The 10-year-old agreed.
"My prayers have been answered," he said. "I'm safe,
that's all I need."
The mother's boyfriend,
Alfred Santiago, 37, faces charges of aggravated
sexual assault and continuous sexual abuse. He
remained jailed Wednesday, unable to make his
$125,000 bail. No court appearance has been set.
The mother, Abneris
Santiago, 30, is charged with injury to a child. She
remained jailed on $50,000 bail and is expected to
appear in court next week, when a judge will decide
whether the case will go to a grand jury.
"She realizes she is
going to face some consequences," said her attorney,
James Jamison. "And that's OK with her. She wants
her children to be safe, and she realizes she is not
able to provide them with a safe home right now."
Alfred Santiago's
attorney did not return a phone call Wednesday from
The Associated Press. The two suspects have declined
to be interviewed.
The three children and
their healthy 1-year-old half sister — the daughter
of both Santiagos — were placed in foster care. They
will remain with their foster family at least
through September, when a status hearing is
scheduled.
In interviews with Child
Protective Services officials, the children
described their imprisonment in heartbreaking
detail. It began roughly three years ago, when they
moved from Fort Myers, Fla., to Texas, ostensibly to
take care of Alfred Santiago's ailing mother.
Abneris Santiago's relatives now doubt that story.
Until the move, Alfred
Santiago was a "nice, nice gentle man," the
10-year-old said.
That seemed to change in
Texas, where the blended family took residence in a
Super 8 motel. The children were permitted to go
outside but forbidden to play with other kids.
Alfred Santiago began accusing them of being
rapists. Later, after his daughter was born, he
accused his girlfriend's children of molesting the
infant.
In an interview with CPS
officials, Abneris Santiago admitted the allegations
left her "doubting" her children.
What freedoms the
children had were taken away when the family moved
into a Budget Suites of America, an extended-stay
hotel located along a busy freeway. Police records
indicate they had lived there since at least August
2007.
The children never
attended school, and the 11-year-old said she had
not been in a classroom since she was in second
grade.
"She never put the kids
on the phone," said Ruth Leon, Abneris's mother.
"They told me they were playing or that they were
with friends or doing homework or doing something."
Inside the bathroom, the
children said, they would go days without eating.
Their mother said she gave them breakfast and
dinner, though she was aware her boyfriend would not
feed them while she was at work. She sneaked them
food when she could, Abneris Santiago said, but
"risked a beating" every time.
The children hid scraps
of food in shampoo bottles, their pockets and
"anywhere else they could hide it, not knowing when
they might get to eat again," a CPS report said.
Such behavior continued even after their rescue. The
children were hospitalized for 10 days, "requiring
constant supervision due to food hoarding," the
report said.
The examining doctor
said the children were of average height but in the
bottom fifth percentile for weight. Their cheeks and
eyes were hollow and sunken, their skin was flaky
and they emitted a repugnant odor.
The report described
Abneris Santiago as medically obese. During an
interview with CPS officials, she repeatedly said
she was hungry but that she was so upset she had
been unable to eat for two days.
Abneris Santiago might
not have done much to help her children, but her
oldest son came to her defense. She told CPS that
three weeks earlier, her boyfriend beat her and her
10-year-old tried to stop him. Alfred Santiago
punched the boy twice in the face, she said.
Abneris Santiago denied
knowing of any sexual abuse. She knew she had to get
out of the situation, she told CPS officials,
"before something really bad happened."
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