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U.S. NEWS Thursday 17 May 2018

DA: 10 kids were strangled, shot with crossbow, waterboarded

By JONATHAN J. COOPER Solano County's Child Wel-
and JANIE HAR, fare Services department
FAIRFIELD, Calif. (AP) — The officials did not immedi-
10 children rescued from ately provide information
a filthy, abusive Califor- on details about the visit or
nia home were strangled, other interactions they may
punched, shot with cross- have had with members of
bows and subjected to wa- the household.
terboarding by their father Rogers says she home-
and their mother did noth- schooled the children, but
ing to stop it, prosecutors the two-story Fairfield, Cali-
said. fornia, home was not reg-
The details of alleged istered as a private school
abuse were included in a and neither were three prior
motion to increase the bail addresses where the family
of Ina Rogers, 31, who was lived in Fairfield and Valle-
charged with nine counts jo, according to the Cali-
of felony child abuse fornia Department of Edu-
Wednesday in Solano Su- cation. The Fairfield-Suisun
perior Court. Rogers did not Unified School District had
enter a plea, but has pre- no record that the students
viously denied allegations attended any school in the
her children were harmed. This photo combo of booking mugs provided by the Solano County Sheriff's Office in Fairfield, Ca- district, said Tim Goree, a
lif., shows Jonathan Allen and his wife, Ina Rogers. Police said Monday, May 14, 2018,
"On a continuous basis district spokesman.q
the children were getting littered with feces and Solano County court re-
punched, strangled, bitten, trash. cords show that Allen was
shot with weapons such as "The children appeared to charged with four felonies
crossbows and bb guns, hit be skittish and spoke with in 2011, including corporal
with weapons such as sticks speech impediments," she injury, assault with a fire-
and bats, subjected to 'wa- said. Officers removed arm and criminal threats
terboarding' and having the 10 children, ages 12 in a case involving his wife,
scalding water poured on years to 4 months, from the identified by her initials, I.R.
them," Solano County Dep- house. Juarez alleges Rog- Prosecutors alleged Allen
uty District Attorney Veroni- ers assisted in the abuse used a .22 caliber revolver
ca Juarez wrote. and "dissuaded the chil- in some of the crimes.
Prosecutors have refused dren" from reporting their in- He pleaded no contest to
to discuss details of the al- juries, which include broken corporal injury as part of a
legations against Rogers arms. Prosecutors would deal with prosecutors. He
and her husband Jonathan not elaborate on the accu- was sentenced to 180 days
Allen, 29, who has pleaded sations or children's injuries. and three years of proba-
not guilty to multiple counts On Wednesday, Judge Wil- tion. Prosecutors dropped
of torture and felony child liam J. Pendergast set bail the other charges.
abuse. He is in Solano at $495,000 for Rogers, say- Rogers told reporters that
County Jail on $5.2 million ing she "may not be a dan- she had one prior interac-
bail. ger to the public at large, tion with child welfare offi-
The motion states that but these charges make cials when her mother "had
when Fairfield Police ar- clear she is a danger to the mentioned something" that
rived at the two-story house children." prompted a home visit. Of-
in a suburb 46 miles (74 ki- It's unclear whether any ficials took pictures of the
lometers) northeast of San California government children and interviewed
Francisco on March 31, agencies had an opportu- them individually, she said.
they found the children nity to intervene sooner or "Nothing was founded, my
"huddled together on the knew of the turmoil in the kids were placed back with
living room floor" in a home household. me," she said.