Report: Texas Woman Charged After Police Find Toddlers ‘Hogtied,’ Caged

A Texas woman has been arrested after authorities say they found a one-year-old girl hogtied and a two-year-old boy enclosed in a playpen in a locked bedroom of a San Antonio residence.

Priscilla Ann Salais, 37, the children’s temporary guardian, was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with two counts of child endangerment, according to KSAT.

Authorities discovered the children at a residence in the 400 block of Bailey Avenue on Sunday after a woman requested a welfare check on her grandchildren who were locked in a bedroom, KSAT reports.

“We arrived at the scene, we had to breach the door to the bedroom to get in,” said San Antonio Police Chief William McManus during a news conference. “Inside they found a one-year-old little girl who was bound – hands and feet hogtied – hands and feet bound together, black eye, bloody lip, and a little boy, a two-year-old little boy who was in a playpen that was covered on top, so it was like a cage.”

“Both children were heavily soiled, crying,” McManus added. “They were taken into custody and turned over to CPS.”

ABC 7 reports the children were at the home alone.

After discovering the toddlers, the San Antonio Police Department applied for two arrest warrants for Salais on Sunday night and subsequently located and arrested her on Tuesday, McManus stated.

Salais denied the charges and told reporters they should “get their facts straight” while authorities took her into custody, KSAT reports.

According to the outlet, an affidavit states that Salais was given temporary custody of the toddlers as Child Protective Services (CPS) is investigating the children’s parents regarding concerns of physical abuse. The biological mother, a woman named Isabella, said she trusted Salais to take care of the children and asserted the 37-year-old is her stepmother.

Authorities believed a five-month-old baby was also living at the residence, but the infant was found at a different home with another caretaker, KABB reports.

“The two toddlers were taken to the hospital and all three children are under CPS care,” KABB states.

“Child endangerment carries a maximum sentence of two years, but I’ll tell you what she did to these children is – I mean, it’s unforgivable,” McManus said. “Two years seems like nothing compared to what she did to these children.”