Monterey County Children Found Starving, Abused By Female Caretakers
Police authorities from Monterey County, California have recorded the arrest of two women who have been accused of felony, child cruelty, false imprisonment amongst others. The women, Eraca Dawn Craig, 31, and Christian Jessica Deanda, 44, had kept three children at their Salinas, Monterey County home in deplorable conditions according to Fox News.
The children included two boys aged three and five, and one eight-year-old girl. The girl was the most abused of the three with police officials finding her chained to the floor in an attempt to prevent her from reaching food. Police found the three children on March 14, 2014 and they have been since then taken in to protective custody. The girl was hospitalized and spent five days there recovering. All three children exhibited signs of physical abuse and had bruises and marks all over their bodies. The girl, in particular “looked like a concentration camp victim” said Monterey County Sheriff Scott Miller. “All three children looked as if they had hardly eaten for months”, added Miller.
According to authorities, the children were discovered after Deputies decided to conduct a welfare check at the property. The children had missed a few unspecified appointments which prompted the officials to conduct the check, reports the Monterey Herald. Meanwhile, evidence is also mounting regarding the possibility of the girl child being put in a closet. She is also believed to have been shackled at the ankle. A collar was also reportedly put around her neck at times. According to authorities, the women were preparing to leave the home just before their arrest.
While the girl and the older boy were found to have been legally adopted, the younger boy was found to be the biological son of one of the women.
Further investigations have revealed that Eraca has a bachelor’s degree in auto mechanics management and worked as a detention officer at the Navajo County, Arizona, Sheriff’s Office back in 2005-2006. She later moved on to a New Mexico corrections facility where she was employed till 2010. She moved to Monterey County after 2010.
Christian owned a cactus nursery with her partner and has worked as an HIV prevention case manager at John XXIII AIDS Ministry in Salinas from 2001-2004, records indicate. She was also a program manager at a transitional housing facility for men in Gallup, New Mexico.
According to the police, the arrested women are domestic partners and were planning to get married on March 29. They do not have prior criminal records in Monterey County and are held at the Monterey County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail each. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 28.
[Image Via The Monterey Herald]
