Court records: Starved kids lived a nightmare

updated 5:36 p.m. ET July 29, 2009

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.

Rescued by aunt and uncle
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.

Children placed in foster care
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.

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