The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office on Friday announced charges against a couple after their three children were found living in a plywood box near Joshua Tree.
San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials released this image of a plywood box three children were allegedly forced in to live on a property near Joshua Tree on March 1, 2018.
Mona Kirk, 51, and Daniel Panico, 73, have each been charged with three counts of child abuse, the DA’s office tweeted late Friday morning.
They are due to be arraigned at Joshua Tree Superior Court at 1:15 p.m. Authorities have not released photos of the couple.
Kirk and Panico were arrested after the couple’s children — ages 14, 13 and 11 — told authorities they’d been living in the makeshift structure outside a trailer just east of Joshua Tree, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday.
Deputies were patrolling the 7000 block of Sunfair Road around 11 a.m. Wednesday when they came upon a property containing what they thought was an abandoned travel trailer and a rectangular box, the release stated.
While investigating, they learned that the three young victims had apparently been living in the box for about four years, officials said. They hadn’t been properly fed and were found to be living in an environment that authorities deemed “unsafe” and “unsuitable.”
The makeshift structure — which measured about 20 feet long, 10 feet wide and 4 feet high — appeared to have been constructed of several pieces of plywood, photos showed. A plastic tarp hastily covering the alleged living quarters seemed to serve as its “roof.”
The children had no access to running water or electricity, according to the release.
The property near Joshua Tree where two parents were arrested after their three children were found living in a box is seen in a photo released by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department on March 1, 2018.
Deputies who surveyed the unkempt area found several large holes on the property, as well as mounds of trash and human feces scattered throughout the dirt lot. The desert landscape was littered with broken furniture and plastic storage boxes, some empty and others filled.
Children’s toys and bicycles were also visible among the filth, mixed in with trash and other debris, the photos showed.
About 30 to 40 cats were discovered in the trailer and roaming loose around the property.
After being arrested on suspicion of willful cruelty to a child, Kirk and Panico were both booked into jail where they were each being held in lieu of $100,000.
The three children have been placed in the custody of San Bernardino County Children and Family Services, according to the release.
An investigation is ongoing.
from KTLA http://ift.tt/2t7h7rG
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