Sheriff's deputies rescued three children from the couple's residence on Russell Road north of Salinas on March 14, citing horrific conditions and an "emaciated" 8-year-old girl who looked like "a concentration camp" victim, said Monterey County Sheriff Scott Miller. The 8-year-old girl and two boys, ages 5 and 3, were discovered March 14 when sheriff's deputies were conducting a welfare check at their Salinas home, said sheriff's Commander John Thornburg. Eraca Dwan Craig, 31, and Christian Jessica Deana, 44, were both arrested at the scene on suspicion of felony child cruelty, false imprisonment and other charges. Officers said they found signs the girl had been chained to the wall and said she may have been held in a closet. There was evidence that she was may have been put in the closet as well as that she was sometimes shackled at the ankle and at other times by a collar around her neck, Miller said. The girl, who appeared to have suffered the most extreme abuse, was chained to the floor to prevent her from getting any food, they said. Miller said it appeared she had "hardly eaten for months." The girl and the 5-year-old boy were legally adopted children, he said, while the 3-year-old boy is the biological son of one of the women, who are domestic partners. The rescued 8-year-old was immediately hospitalized for about five days, Miller said, and appeared to be "very traumatized." "It seems that the little girl was the major target of this abuse," Miller continued, adding that she looked "like a concentration camp victim." "It was a particularly heinous case," Miller told the Monterey Herald. Authorities said the women seemed to be making preparations to leave before they were arrested.  SALINAS, Calif. (AP) — Three starving children — including one who was chained to the floor to prevent her from getting food — were found last month in the squalid home of a Northern California couple, authorities said. The women, who are domestic partners, do not appear to have criminal records in Monterey County. They were both arraigned in Monterey County Court on Tuesday and are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 28.
– It's "a particularly heinous case," says the sheriff in California's Monterey County. Police rescued three young children who showed signs of starvation and abuse from their home in Salinas, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Their mothers, who lived together as domestic partners, are in custody. The oldest child, an 8-year-old girl, had been chained at times to keep her from getting food, and she looked like a "concentration camp victim," says Sheriff Scott Miller. The girl was hospitalized for four days and is now recuperating in a foster home. The other two children are boys ages 3 and 5, and they, too, were malnourished, bruised, and showed signs of emotional abuse, reports AP. But the girl apparently bore the brunt of the abuse, with investigators saying she was shackled at the ankle or by a collar at times, and may have been held in a closet. Eraca Craig, 31, and Christian Deanda, 44, are accused of felony child cruelty, false imprisonment, and other charges, reports the Monterey Herald. They home-schooled the kids and were scheduled to be married next week.