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Couple Accused Of Torturing Toddler

April 20, 2010 at 8:52 am by FlamingFox

Santa Maria, CA- Lorena Arenas, 23, and Jose Luis Gonzalez, 41, are accused of torturing their 2-year old child last Wednesday. Authorities believe Lorena punished the toddler by holding her arms under scalding tap water for about five minutes which gave her third-degree burns on her hands and forearms. Police say it is Jose who refused to take the child to the hospital. They kept the child at home for more than 13 hours before Lorena finally took the child to a hospital. Due to the severity of the burns, the child was transported to the Sherman Oaks Burn Center for continued treatment. Police were notified and Lorena Arenas was arrested on suspicion of torture, aggravated mayhem, kidnapping, burglary, false imprisonment and child endangerment. Her bail was set at $250,000. Here is something I have never heard before. The police added kidnapping for “moving the child a distance to commit a felony,” and burglary for “moving the child into a different room in the house to commit a felony.” Gonzalez was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment for failing to get obvious needed medical care for his child. His bail was set at $100,000. A second biological child residing in the home was placed with Child Welfare Services. You can get a look at both their mugs after the jump.

Tags: aggravated mayhem, Burglary, Burning, California, Child Abuse, Child Endangerment, Crime, false imprisonment, Kidnapping, Torture

21 Comments

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Christi5715

I hate hearing stories about child abuse of any kind. Seriously, coming to this site makes me spoil my kids. I am glad I don't understand how these 2 could do that to a child. I hope she heals completely. I also hope her bitch mother is sterilized…with a hot curling iron. Also, on a side note….his mug immediately made me think of “Big Trouble in Little China”…
Jury

Their punishment should be water boarding with scalding water!
Tundratot

The police were stacking charges. I approve. I'm sure they won't stick, but it's an indicator that they were seriously out to arrest these two and want something to stick in a court. Besides, if charges get dropped in a plea deal, these might remain.

I wish that aberrant parents and caregivers didn't decide that hot water was a worthy punishment. “Oh, we were just washing her hands . . . He needed a bath . . . ” Yeesh! So original. And then they follow it up by denying treatment because they don't want to get in trouble. Well, they're going to get in trouble when they eventually do bring the child in for treatment, so better to get it sooner rather than later. At least then we (the jury of public opinion) might believe they didn't realize the hot water was too hot.
EveryVillainIsLemons

What the hell? I feel bad just swatting my daughter on the butt or if her bathwater is too WARM. Seriously, who the fuck thinks that holding a TWO YEAR OLD'S arms under scalding tap water until they BURN is an effective form of discipline besides Ms. Cold Room Temperature IQ up there? And why didn't her man want to take the baby to the hospital? Was he afraid it would take time away from his careful grooming for the demon look-alike contest? Is he another Prince Charming who is on probation and would end up in the pokey for a crime of this magnitude?
Lesa

WTF is wrong with people? I have a 4yr old and I feel bad if I raise my voice to her…How the F&%$ do these people think that HURTING your child is proper punishment?? Some people should really be sterilized
Guest420

Some one please hold these assholes under scalding hot water for me.
marnica

Monsters , hand them over to me!
defenestratethis

Jeeze..give him a pitch fork and ya got a look a like for whatshisface…oh yeah…Bill Z. Bubb
Soobs

What in your head, is so seriously fucked up, that it ALLOWS you to actually hold a (I'm sure) squirming, screaming child under the water, for any amount of time? What exactly is missing in your DNA and can it be repaired? If not, sterilize and shoot, IMO.
whisperswing

Couple plead not guilty to child abuse
A Santa Maria woman who is accused of torturing her 2-year-old daughter by holding her arms under scalding tap water, and the baby's father, who allegedly refused to take the child to the hospital, pleaded not guilty this morning to the felony charges against them.
Lorena Arenas, 23, and Jose Luis Gonzalez, 41, also of Santa Maria, appeared along with their attorneys before Santa Barbara County Superior Court Commissioner John McGregor in Santa Maria.
The District Attorney's Office has charged Arenas with felony counts of torture and child abuse with great bodily injury, and Gonzalez with felony child endangerment.
The girl suffered third-degree burns on her hands and forearms, but her father, Gonzalez, refused to take her to a hospital, police have said.
The child reportedly remained at home for more than 13 hours before Arenas took her to Marian Medical Center.
Due to the severity of her injuries, the toddler was transported to Sherman Oaks Hospital burn center for continued treatment.
EveryVillainIsLemons

Of course they are–everybody knows that it was the Scalding Hot Water Fairy who did it!
CHIMOM

People with NO SOULS hurt children!!! $250,000 bail????????? A higher bail amount is set for someone caught stealing a candy bar!!!
Sugarglider1

Not to be annoying, but that's really not true. And don't worry, these people aren't going to have friends who have 25,000 (10% of the bail) to fork over to get them out of jail.

Those are some weird sounding crimes they are charged with.

Burns are so very painful. That poor baby.
ChiMom

ok….it wasn't a candy bar…..it was a dog collar from Wal-Mart! Yes it is a Fact!
chimom

$350,000.00 bail set for a lady who didn't clean her cat boxes for 2 weeks….she had 12 cats and was ill and someone turned her in for animal neglect and abuse. Cats were taken by Animal control…all healthy, spayed, neutered, vaccinated and clean… living in a 4 bedroom 3 story home. She has been to court 3 times so far this year and she is proving beyond a reasonable doubt her cats were well cared for…..but her $3,500. cash bail will never be returned to her. She had dirty cat boxes and her bail was $350,000.00!!!!!!!!!
vxiii

Is that Lorenas father also?
Sugarglider1

First of all, if that happened, assuming that's all there is to this story, then that's some crazy ass judge and not the norm! Wow, bizarre. But story sounds a little fishy–if her bail was set at 350,000 then her cash bail would have been 10%, which is 35,000, not 3,500.
vxiii

Another child lost in the foster care system, when she is about 12, unless she has really good foster parents that dont only want their check each month (haha finding that) or one that the father dont molest her (haha finding that too) she will run away and sleep in the streets rather than go back to that shit… I know you guys like CPS and Foster Care, but its not always the best option… I dont know the answer though, there actually isnt one…
mscharlie

Why do people have these kids if they really don't want them?
http://www.facebook.com/cie.cheesemeister Cie Cheesemeister

Wow…they look like they're related.
I agree with MsCharlie. These idiots who dislike kids so much should not have them. Once again, my thought is mandatory sterilization for anyone who commits this type of crime. And take the kid away–forever. No second chances to harm the child again.