Ten kids allegedly tortured by their parents were waterboarded
The California 10 kids who were tortured by their parents were waterboarded, shot with crossbows and had scalding water poured on them, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Ina Rogers persuaded her kids from reporting their injuries — which included burns and broken bones — so she could protect her husband, 29-year-old Jonathan Allen, said Solano County prosecutors.
“Instead of taking care of them she has abused them, if not assisting her husband in torture,” said Solano County's Deputy District Attorney, Veronica Juarez.
(Jonathan Allen and Ina Rogers via Solano County Sheriffs Department)
Rogers didn't plead guilty Wednesday but was charged with nine counts of felony child abuse. Allen faces several counts of torture and felony child abuse charges. He remains jailed on $5.2 million bail.
The parents have denied they’ve abused their children.
“My husband is an amazing person, I am an amazing mother,” she said outside her house Tuesday. “I'm not going to allow this to break us and I'm not going to stop fighting.”
Allen declared he wasn't an “animal.”
“The truth is that it is a functioning household," he told KCRA-TV on Tuesday. “Everyone helped everyone. It was a complete circle - the older ones helped the little ones.”
Prosecutors said police found nine kids living among unsanitary conditions after they showed up at their Fairfield home searching for Roger’s 12-year-old son who she reported missing. An Amber Alert was put out for the child.
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She said child services visited her home three years ago and interviewed the kids after her mother “had mentioned something.”
“Nothing was founded, my kids were placed back with me,” Rogers told reporters.
Authorities removed the children — whose ages range from 4 months to 12 — from the house on March 31. They suffered puncture wounds, burns and bruises, authorities said. The missing boy was found sleeping in yard nearby, police said.
Wanda Rogers accused Allen of abusing her grandchildren and worshipping the devil.
“Jonathan worships the devil. He had a devil room, a devil room that he called a meditation room,” she told NBC News “He was using my grandkids for sacrifice.”
With News Wire Services
