t**x
发帖数: 20965 | 1 The mounds of trash, old toys and furniture caught the attention of a
Southern California sheriff's deputy passing through the desert earlier this
week. As he approached, he spotted a hovel cobbled together with plywood
and plastic sheeting.
And then came the shocking discovery that a couple and their three children
— ages 11 to 14 — had been living there for several years without running
water, bathrooms or electricity.
The children's mother, Mona Kirk, 51, would sleep alongside them in the
ramshackle dwelling, which is only about 4 feet high and 10 feet wide, said
Cindy Bachman, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's
Department.
Their father, Daniel Panico, 73, slept either in a trailer on the property
with dozens of cats or in another vehicle, she said.
"They were scraps of plywood that were put together and then they had a tarp
over it to keep out the rain," Bachman said of the makeshift shelter on the
lot near Joshua Tree, about 125 miles (201 kilometers) east of Los Angeles.
Inside, blankets were strewn everywhere and chairs were used to try to hold
up the tarp ceiling. A makeshift kitchen was littered with empty bottles
with cans of corn, peas and soup stacked on wooden shelves. Several holes on
the property were filled with feces, officials said.
The children didn't appear to have any obvious injuries and showed no
outward signs of malnutrition but were undergoing medical evaluations,
Bachman said.
"It was apparent they had not bathed in days," she said. "There was no
running water, no electricity, no bathroom facilities."
The parents were arrested Wednesday and have been charged with three counts
of felony child abuse, district attorney's office spokesman Christopher Lee
said. A telephone number listed for the couple in public records was not in
service Friday.
The children were not enrolled in public school and deputies are still
investigating whether they were considered enrolled in a homeschool, but
there was no evidence they were being educated, Bachman said.
Deputies believe the family lost their home at some point and has been
living on the dirt lot for about four years, Bachman said. Initially, the
whole family was living in the trailer and they later built the plywood
dwelling, she said.
Temperatures in the desert community regularly reach over 100 degrees during
the summer and can drop well below freezing during very windy winter nights.
"They range from 20-30 degrees at night or even lower depending on the wind
chill," Bachman said. "The temperatures were very cold and they were
basically living outdoors. There was no indoors for them."
Investigators do not believe the children were being held captive, like
another family — who lived about 60 miles (96.56 kilometers) east of Joshua
Tree — that made international headlines earlier this year when officials
said they had rescued their 13 children.
David and Louise Turpin have pleaded not guilty to torture, abuse and other
charges. Prosecutors in neighboring Riverside County said the Turpins
tortured their children keeping them chained to their beds and so
malnourished their growth was stunted. | t**x
发帖数: 20965 | 2 生活差了点。 跟中国最落后的地方差不多。 不过中国最落后的地区其实还很绿， 自
然资源多些。
The parents were arrested Wednesday and have been charged with three counts
of felony child abuse, district attorney's office spokesman Christopher Lee
said. |
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