Woman Will Stand Trial After Allegedly Torturing Adopted Children
LANCASTER (CBSLA.com) — A Palmdale woman has been ordered to stand trial after being accused of abusing and torturing her two adopted children.
Ingrid Brewer, 51, is looking at two counts each of child abuse, torture, assault with a deadly weapon, and battery with serious bodily injury. Lancaster Superior Court Judge Bernie LaForteza has found sufficient evidence to require Brewer to proceed to trial.
The girl was seven years of age and the boy was eight when the alleged crimes took place between the dates of October 31 and January 15. A search involving Palmdale Sheriff's deputies took place on Jan. 15 after Brewer reported the children missing.
The children were eventually located, lying near a parked vehicle close to their residence, according to Sheriff's Deputy Mark Pope.
"Both victims were hiding under a blanket," Pope described. "Neither child had any type of winter clothing on, despite temperatures in the mid-20's."
The children reported to deputies that they ran away from home because they were tired of the abusive conditions at the residence, including "being tied up and beaten".
"Both children disclosed that on numerous occasions, the suspect would zip-tie their hands behind their backs and beat them as punishment," Pop said. "The children disclosed being hit with electrical cords and a hammer. Both children were also deprived of food."
Upon finding the adolescents, deputies discovered that the children were in an excessively afflicted state.
According to Deputy Pope, the children "had injures on their bodies that were consistent with the abuse that they had disclosed, including marks that indicated that their wrists had been restrained with a zip-tie type restraint."
Brewer was arrested on Jan. 16 and remains jailed on a $2 million bail. She is scheduled to be arraigned on March 19.
