Couple keeps 12-year-old daughter locked in closet for over a year so she wouldn't steal food from refrigerator

BROWNSVILLE - Police say the parents of a 12 year-old girl forced her to live locked in a closet with no light and minimal contact with the outside world. Police say no one had a clue about the abuse, not neighbors or school officials, until the girl's brother spoke up. When police went to the family's home on the 400 block of Jo Ann Lane, they found the girl locked inside the closet.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS has video and pictures of the space were the girl was confined. She was allegedly only let out so she could go to school, eat, or use the bathroom during the day. The bucket in the space was her bathroom at night. Police say she was forced to clean it every morning.


We told neighbor Cynthia Santiago about the way the girl was forced to live. She knew something wasn't right when she saw police last week. "I just saw cops taking pictures and detectives. I don't know. That's a shock!"


Police say this was torture endured by the child for more than a year. The landlord tells us she didn't suspect any problems. She let us inside. Police say the room the girl was living in had no electricity and she would use the light coming through the cracks to do her homework."


The girl's mother told police she kept the girl locked up because she didn't want her stealing food from the refrigerator. But police say the girl needed to eat. They say she was malnourished and looked like an 8 or 9 year-old instead of 12.


Police say one of the girl's three brothers finally told someone at school. He was worried about his sister. Sgt. Jimmy Manrrique of the Brownsville Police Department says, "It's very commendable that the young man was able to speak up in a school setting."


Police say that call for help saved the child. Santiago is grateful the girl is out of the house. She says, "God doesn't bring kids into this world so they can suffer like that."


The girl's parents are in jail. Leticia and Alfredo Ines are charged with injury to a child and unlawful restraint. The mother is a Wal-Mart employee. The step-father is a maintenance worker with Brownsville Independent School District. Late Monday, BISD personnel said Alfredo Ines was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.


CHANNEL 5 NEWS wanted to know why no at the girl's school noticed problems. A District spokesperson says they're now looking into the situation.


A hearing is set for next week to determine if the girl will stay in foster care.



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