Texas resident Priscilla Ann Salais is accused of endangering children after police found two toddlers beaten and restrained in her San Antonio home over the weekend.
After a witness prompted police to conduct a welfare check on the children, a 1-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy, on Saturday, Salais, who had legal custody of the kids but is not their mother, was detained on Tuesday.
The girl was allegedly “hogtied” and suffering from bodily injury when police arrived, and the child was allegedly being held captive in a cage.
Both children were described as being “heavily unclean” and crying when authorities arrived. As cops took Salais to a Bexar County prison on Tuesday after charging her with two counts of endangering children, she told reporters that the accusations were “bulls—t.”
According to San Antonio police, they received a 911 call on Saturday from a grandmother complaining that her grandchildren were being held captive in a bedroom at Salais’ Highland Park home.
When the firemen arrived, they allegedly found two kids inside the room after forcing their way inside. A one-year-old girl who had her wrists and feet shackled was discovered on the floor.
The toddler had “visible injuries,” including a black eye and a bleeding lip, according to an arrest record that KSAT was able to obtain. A table and a baby carrier are said to have been used as a makeshift cage to keep a 2-year-old child enclosed in a playpen that is “completely covered.” Police Chief William McManus described both children as being filthy and crying.
Both children were taken into custody and turned over to Child Protective Services. According to the affidavit, Salais was given temporary custody of the kids while CPS looked into their parents’ claims of physical abuse. KSAT claims that Isabella, the mother of the kids, is Salais’ stepdaughter.
Isabella said to the source, “Tell [the toddlers] that I’m sorry, that I shouldn’t have trusted anybody with them, and that I just want them to return home right away.” It’s unknown why Salais, who officials claim lacks the qualifications to foster children in Texas, received the youngsters.
Online jail records show that Salais was held on two felony child endangerment counts. According to Chief McManus, if found guilty, the 37-year-old may spend years in prison.
She appears to have a $75,000 bond for each count. She hasn’t yet been arraigned, so this might just be a placeholder number. When Salais will show up in court to respond to the accusations is unknown.
He told reporters on Tuesday: “Child endangerment carries a maximum sentence of two years, but I’ll tell you what she did to these children is terrible.
Two years seem insignificant in light of what she did to these kids, Salais cautioned reporters to “get [their] facts straight” as she was escorted to a squad car outside a San Antonio police station on Tuesday. She referred to the allegations as “bulls—t” and asked journalists to interview her grandmother.
One report claims that Salais’ father also refuted the allegations. He informed KSAT that she adopted the children out of kindness since that is the kind of person she is. Now that I think about it, the sensationalized portrayal of her that is being made is inaccurate.
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