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Parents arrested after twins, 5, caged 'like animals' I never ends, does it? And I get the feeling that it's all downhill from here. . .
Laura Dobbins The Arizona Republic Aug. 25, 2003 12:00 AM For four months, two 5-year-old Phoenix brothers lived inside roach-infested cages, their bodies covered with bedsores. When police arrived at their home in the 1900 block of North 22nd Street on Saturday night, the twin boys were wearing soiled pajamas and officers needed wire cutters to open their man-made cells. "They were happy to see us and opened their arms wide, reaching out to be held and picked up," recounted Phoenix police Sgt. Jacqui MacConnell. Phoenix police officers said their story is among the most disturbing child abuse cases they've ever seen. The boys' parents, Louis and Etelvina Rodriguez, were arrested on suspicion of two counts of child abuse and kidnapping. They are being held at the Madison Street Jail with bond set at $243,000 each. The children are in the custody of state Child Protective Services. Police discovered the children after the boys' older brother, 20-year-old Bayron Grihalua, told officers at a local grocery store about their living conditions, said Sgt. Randy Force, a Phoenix police spokesman. Grihalua could not be reached for comment Sunday evening. Etelvina Rodriguez, 42, told police her husband wanted the boys in cages because he suffers from health problems and didn't want to keep up with the active children. Police did not elaborate on Louis' condition, but neighbors say the 69-year-old man suffers from heart trouble. The Rodriguezes are the second couple arrested by Phoenix police in the past 10 weeks accused of locking their children in confined spaces. In June, officers arrested Melanie and Ricardo Loubriel on suspicion of child abuse after discovering their 7-year-old son locked in a dark closet where he had apparently been kept for several months. "There's no excuse for this," Force said. "Resources are available to people who need help. You don't cage your children like animals." MacConnell arrived at the home with Officers Javier Avalos and Nicholas Gomez. Each said nothing could prepare them for what they found inside. Cramped quarters They said the boys were kept in two baby cribs wired together and sealed by plastic crates similar to what bread is stored on in grocery stores. One enclosure was 4 feet wide by 4 feet high; the other 6 feet wide by 2 feet high. Each had a T-shaped hole through which the officers believe they were fed. "They were trying to say words but didn't seem to know how," Avalos said. "They murmured and made sounds but no words. We spoke to them in Spanish thinking it could be a language barrier, but they still couldn't form words." Roaches crawled throughout the room and inside the cages, each of which contained a blanket and small mattress stained with feces and urine, Gomez said. Neighbors interviewed Sunday said that on rare occasions they had seen the boys outside and that they noted the twins were still bottle-fed and hadn't learned to speak. Force said investigators believe the boys were let out of the cages for a few hours a day when their mother arrived home from work, but they would be placed back in the cages at 7 p.m., not to be released again until she came home the next day. In spite of their living conditions, the children appeared to be in decent health, Force said. During an initial court appearance at the Madison Street Jail on Sunday, Louis Rodriguez leaned on a desk and spoke through a Spanish interpreter. Dressed in a standard jail uniform, he limped away after the proceedings. His wife wore a striped jail shirt and said little during her appearance. Each was ordered not to have contact with the twins. Neighbors were not surprised by the news. "Louis is insane," said Edna White, a neighbor of 27 years. "He's very violent and has threatened to buy a gun and shoot all his neighbors in the past." Her husband, Ed, said it was not uncommon to see Louis in a drunken rage cursing people and beating on cars with a stick. The Whites say Louis sat around the yard during the day blasting a television or stereo from his carport. Sometimes when his wife was home, they would see the 5-year-old boys in the yard. Louis was married at least once previously, neighbors said. "He drank a lot, and his first wife used to hide from him. He was always fighting with her," said Bronice Strikausekas, a neighbor of 23 years. Boys called shy Karen Ton, 14, was the only one surprised by the news. She knew the twins and played with them as recently as last week. "They were shy and didn't speak at all. But they always brought their five small dogs over," said Ton, who lives across the street from the Rodriguez home. Force said it is unclear how many people live at the house, but only the twins were removed by CPS. Given the abuse police believe the boys endured, both likely will need intensive therapy, said Dr. Dennis Embry, an internationally recognized expert in child psychology. "It's almost like you have to take them from the point of being infants and redo everything as fast as possible," explained Embry, a Tucson-based therapist who has treated children of abusive parents. "Just putting them in foster care with a loving family is not enough. They need intensive intervention for hours a day." Children raised in neglectful homes often fare worse than youths who have been beaten because neglected children never learn how to maintain control over their environments. Still, with proper treatment, both boys have the potential to recover from the abuse and live normal lives, Embry said. "We clearly know that many such children can have a functional life," he said. "They are not a write-off." Staff reporter David J. Cieslak contributed to this article.
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