Couple forced 11-year-old to sleep in backyard and uninsulated garage without a bed year-round, made her perform exercise routines while dragging her around: Cops

A California pistillate and her spouse are accused of dragging the woman's 11-year-old niece astir with a canine leash, strangling her, and forcing her to slumber successful a acold store without a bed.

Priscilla Mestaz, 37, and Anthony Machuca, 36, each look 27 charges, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office announced. The "most serious" charges see torture, conspiracy to perpetrate torture, kid endangerment nether circumstances apt to origin large bodily wounded oregon death, inflicting wounded upon a child, assault with a deadly weapon, and transgression threats.

The 11-year-old miss had been staying with her aunt, Mestaz, and Mestaz's "partner," Machuca, since the summertime of 2024, the sheriff's bureau said. In January 2025, the alleged maltreatment began, and according to deputies, it lasted for astatine slightest a year.

The mates strangled, punched, and slapped the girl, authorities contend, and they forced her to slumber "in an uninsulated, unfinished store without bedding oregon vigor during wintertime months." Furthermore, they reportedly did not springiness the kid "adequate nutrition," causing her to go malnourished.

The defendants besides forced the miss to "perform strenuous carnal workout to the constituent of exhaustion nether menace of assault," "dragg[ed] the kid with a canine leash," and verbally abused and threatened her with injury, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office said.

Authorities became alert of the lawsuit connected Jan. 31, erstwhile deputies were told that a miss — aboriginal identified arsenic the alleged unfortunate — "was refusing to instrumentality home" due to the fact that "her aunt had been physically abusing her." Officers, including detectives with the sheriff's office's peculiar victims unit, responded to the location and spoke with the aunt.

Mestaz was successful an "advanced signifier of pregnancy," and a 4-year-old kid was besides astatine the home. Officers continued to investigate, and yet identified Mestaz and Machuca arsenic suspects.

Investigators carried retired a hunt warrant connected the location and recovered surveillance cameras some wrong and extracurricular the home. The cameras reportedly showed footage that backed up the 11-year-old's statements and showed that she had been "living primarily" successful the store and backyard.

"The store was not a converted surviving space, lacking heating and aerial conditioning, and insulation, leaving the kid exposed to unsafe temperatures year-round," the sheriff's bureau said.

Machuca was arrested astatine the home, but Mestaz was not taken into custody fixed her pregnancy, the sheriff's bureau said. After giving commencement astir six weeks later, Mestaz was arrested connected March 12. During their investigation, detectives besides learned that Mestaz "served arsenic a kid and household services lawsuit manager with a section organization."

Both the babe and the 4-year-old were "taken into protective custody by Stanislaus County Child Protective Services." The sheriff's bureau did not accidental what happened to the 11-year-old girl.

At the clip of the sheriff's office's announcement connected Monday, Mestaz and Machuca were each being held connected $1 cardinal bail. The bureau suggested much charges could beryllium forthcoming.

Stanislaus County is located eastbound of the San Francisco Bay area.