Jury Finds Man Guilty of Starving Kids
Tuesday, 27 Jul 2010
DALLAS - A Dallas man convicted of starving three children locked in a hotel bathroom for nearly a year was sentenced to 99 years in prison Tuesday after jurors heard testimony that one child was suicidal and another preferred urinating in his hospital bed to entering a restroom.
The youngest victim, a 6-year-old boy whose head barely peeked over the witness stand, told jurors he liked the hospital where he was taken after being rescued from the squalid hotel along a busy Dallas highway in July 2009.
"I got to eat," he said.
The jury sentenced Alfred Santiago, 38, hours after they convicted him of injury to a child and continuous sexual abuse. Prosecutors had asked for a life sentence. Santiago's attorney had asked for 25 years, the minimum allowed under the sex abuse conviction.
Santiago also was fined $20,000.
After the sentencing, Santiago told the judge he would appeal.
"God knows I am not guilty of these charges," he said.
The children were emaciated when they were found last summer. Their ribs and spines showed through flaky skin, and the oldest child, an 11-year-old girl, told authorities she had been repeatedly sexually assaulted.
Several witnesses compared their appearance to Holocaust survivors. The youngest boy, then 5, weighed less than 30 pounds -- about the weight of a healthy 2-year-old. Pictures of the wasted children were pinned to the courtroom wall above the witness stand throughout the trial.
Each of the three children have different fathers. Alfred and Abneris Santiago, who share a last name but were not married, have a daughter who was 1 when they were arrested. She was healthy and unharmed.
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Alfred Santiago
Defendant: Starved Kids Refused to Eat
Monday, 26 Jul 2010
DALLAS - A man accused of keeping three emaciated children locked in the bathroom of a Dallas hotel for as long as nine months told a jury Monday that the starving youngsters refused to eat the meals he prepared for them.
The children were gaunt and filthy when they were found by police in July 2009 in a hotel alongside a busy Dallas highway. A doctor who treated them described the children as having sunken cheeks and flaky skin and said they emitted a repugnant odor.
Alfred Santiago, who took the stand in his own defense, said he gave the children breakfast and lunch each day.
"I know that I fed them," Santiago said. "Whether they ate or not, I could not force them."
Santiago, 38, is on trial on charges of injury to a child and continuous sexual abuse in relation to the girl, who was 11. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. Charges involving injuries to the boys, who were 5 and 10 when rescued, are pending.
Santiago also told jurors he never physically or sexually assaulted any of the children.
When repeatedly asked by prosecutor Carmen White why he told police he had awakened from a nap to find himself having sex with the girl, Santiago said he didn't remember making such a statement. The reaction from those watching in the courtroom to Santiago's repeated denials led the judge to admonish the audience to "curb any snickering and laughter."
Throughout his testimony, jurors were able to see crime scene photos pinned to the courtroom wall just above Santiago's right shoulder. The photos showed each of the children, their ribs and spines visible through their skin. Another photo showed the stopped-up toilet in the bathroom where prosecutors say the children were confined.
The three children share a mother, Abneris Santiago, but each has a different father. Alfred and Abneris have a daughter together who was 1 at the time of their arrest. She was healthy and unharmed.
Alfred Santiago said his former girlfriend repeatedly told him that she was responsible for her three children. He said he was "careless" in not notifying authorities of their condition. He also said it was Abneris' idea to keep her children locked in a bathroom.
Her trial is scheduled to begin after his ends. The former couple share a last name but were not married.
"I'm sorry I saw what I saw and didn't stop it," he said.
The girl, who is now 12, told jurors earlier in the day that Santiago forced her to place her brother's excrement in her mouth. The girl, wearing glasses with her hair pulled back into pigtails, also said he had sexually assaulted her and beat her brothers.
Santiago denied each of the allegations.
"I feel that he's sick," the girl said. "He's done so many bad things -- worse than anyone can imagine. He's horrible."
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