Prosecutors add lewd conduct claims to tortured kids case

UPDATE: 5/24/2018 11:24 a.m. Prosecutors have added four charges of lewd conduct against a father accused of torturing his children in a Northern California home where prosecutors say 10 children lived in filth and neglect.

The charges against the 29-year-old man were filed Thursday as he and his wife, 31-year-old Ina Rogers, appeared jointly in Solano County Superior Court.

The father faces nine counts of felony child abuse, seven counts of felony torture and four counts of lewd conduct on a child under 14.

Rogers faces nine counts of felony child abuse and one count of child neglect involving all 10 children. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say the children were punched, kicked, strangled, shot with a BB gun and subjected to waterboarding by their father, while their mother did nothing to stop it.

PREVIOUS STORY: 5/16/2018 2:08 p.m. California prosecutors say 10 children rescued from a filthy, abusive home were subjected to ‘waterboarding,’ shot with crossbows and had scalding water poured on them.

Solano County prosecutors included the details in a motion to increase the bail of Ina Rogers, who was charged with nine counts of felony child abuse Wednesday. She has not entered a plea.

Deputy District Attorney Veronica Juarez wrote that Rogers assisted in the abuse of the children by her husband, Jonathan Allen.

Juarez wrote that Rogers dissuaded the children from reporting their injuries, which include broken arms, in order to protect Allen.

The report also states that when police arrived at the Fairfield, California, home to search for a missing 12-year-old, they found nine children huddled together amid filth.

UPDATE: 5/16/2018 12:58 p.m. A California father charged with torturing his children was charged with domestic violence in 2011.

Solano County court records show that Jonathan Allen was charged with four felonies including corporal injury, assault with a firearm and criminal threats.

Allen and Ina Rogers of Fairfield, California, have 10 children and are in jail on felony child abuse charges.

The records identify the victim in 2011 as Allen’s spouse and list her initials, I.R. Prosecutors alleged Allen used a .22 caliber revolver in some of the crimes.

He pleaded no contest to corporal injury as part of a deal with prosecutors. He was sentenced to 180 days and three years of probation.

Prosecutors dropped the other charges.

UPDATE: 5/15/2018 4:21 p.m. Prosecutors say they will file nine counts of felony child abuse against the California mother of 10 children who officials say suffered long-term abuse in a filthy home.

Solano County Deputy District Attorney Veronica Juarez filed a notice with the court Tuesday in the case against 31-year-old Ina Rogers. She’s scheduled to appear in court on the new charges Wednesday.

The charges allege that Rogers caused the children to be in a situation that was likely to produce great bodily injury and death.

Rogers told reporters Monday that the allegations against her and her husband are false.

The children’s father, 29-year-old Jonathan Allen, pleaded not guilty to torture and child cruelty charges and is being held on $5.2 million bail.

UPDATE: 5/15/2018 3:47 p.m. It’s unclear whether any California government agencies had an opportunity to intervene in the years authorities claim 10 children suffered “horrific” abuse inside their suburban home.

Their mother, 31-year-old Ina Rogers, told reporters that social services interviewed the kids three years ago but nothing came of the visit and her children were returned to her.

A lawyer for Solano County child welfare officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Solano County authorities say the children suffered puncture wounds, burns, bruising and injuries consistent with being shot with a pellet gun.

Rogers said she homeschooled the children, but there is no record she registered with the state as required by law.

Their father, 29-year-old Jonathan Allen, pleaded not guilty to charges of torture and child cruelty charges and is being held on $5.2 million bail.

UPDATE: 5/14/2018 5:03 p.m. A California police lieutenant says children taken from a home said they had puncture wounds, burns, bruises and injuries consistent with being shot with a pellet gun.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Sharon Henry says the torture was carried out “for sadistic purposes.”

Fairfield police Lt. Greg Hurlbut said Monday the abuse was revealed in interviews with the children over the past six weeks.

He says officers found spoiled food on the floor and animal and human feces when they removed 10 children from the home in March. He says some areas of the home were impassable.

The children’s father, Jonathan Allen, was arraigned Monday on felony torture and child abuse charges and the mother, Ina Rogers, faces child neglect charges.

Rogers denied the allegations to reporters outside her home.

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A mother of 10 children who California authorities say were tortured and neglected is denying the allegations.

Ina Rogers told reporters Monday that she called authorities in March after her 12-year-old son didn’t come home.

Nine other children were found living in what Fairfield police Lt. Greg Hurlbut called “squalid and unsafe conditions.”

She says the “squalor” officers saw when investigating the missing-child report was her tearing apart the house as she searched for her child.

Rogers was arrested on March 31 and charged with neglect. She was released after posting $10,000 bail.

Hurlbut says the children’s father, 29-year-old Jonathan Allen, was arrested Friday after officials interviewed the children.

Allen faces torture and child cruelty charges. He’s being held in lieu of $1.5 million bail.