Father Charged With Sex Crimes In Fairfield Child Torture Case
FAIRFIELD (CBS SF) -- Prosecutors have added four counts of committing lewd acts with a child to the charges against a Fairfield father who is in custody for allegedly abusing and torturing his 10 children.
The Solano County District Attorney's Office filed four counts of committing lewd acts with a child under 14 against Jonathan Allen at a brief court appearance Thursday. The judge also ruled that Allen and his wife, Ina Rogers, will be tried together.
The new complaint charges Allen with 20 felony counts, including seven alleging torture, nine for abuse or endangerment and four for allegedly committing a lewd and lascivious act.
Meanwhile, Rogers faces nine felony counts of abuse or endangerment and one misdemeanor count of child endangering by health, according to the complaint.
Both Rogers and Allen -- who is being held on $5.2 million bail in Solano County Jail -- have pleaded not guilty to the charges. They will next appear before Superior Court Judge William Pendergast on July 10.
The details of alleged abuse were revealed last week in a motion to increase Rogers bail to $495,000.
"On a continuous basis the children were getting punched, strangled, bitten, shot with weapons such as crossbows and bb guns, hit with weapons such as sticks and bats, subjected to 'waterboarding' and having scalding water poured on them," Solano County Deputy District Attorney Veronica Juarez wrote.
A court motion states that when Fairfield police arrived at the two-story house in a suburb 46 miles northeast of San Francisco on March 31, they found the children "huddled together on the living room floor" in a home littered with feces and trash.
"The children appeared to be skittish and spoke with speech impediments," Juarez said.
Officers removed the 10 children, ages 12 years to 4 months, from the house.
Juarez alleges Rogers assisted in the abuse and "dissuaded the children" from reporting their injuries, which include broken arms. Prosecutors would not elaborate on the accusations or children's injuries.
It's unclear whether any California government agencies had an opportunity to intervene sooner or knew of the turmoil in the household.
Solano County court records show that Allen was charged with four felonies in 2011, including corporal injury, assault with a firearm and criminal threats in a case involving his wife, identified by 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.
Rogers told reporters that she had one prior interaction with child welfare officials when her mother "had mentioned something" that prompted a home visit. Officials took pictures of the children and interviewed them individually, she said.
"Nothing was founded, my kids were placed back with me," she said.
Solano County's Child Welfare Services department officials did not immediately provide information on details about the visit or other interactions they may have had with members of the household.
© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
