At first, the neighbors couldn’t believe what they heard.
It was in the middle of the night in this Texan neighborhood, and every once in a while pitiful sobs broke the silence.
When they grew more insistent, one of the neighbors called the police to report it.
The deputies knocked on the front door, got no answer, and went around back, using a ladder to look over the fence, said a CNN report.
“A 2-year-old boy was chained to the ground as if he was a dog,” said James Keith, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office.
“There was no slack in the chain. His pants were down. You could tell he’d been here for a while. And then a short distance away, a 3-year-old girl who was tied to a door with a dog leash who was just exhausted.”
Furthermore, busting into the house revealed another surprise for them.
Six children, aged 10 months to 13 years, were found inside without any adult in sight.
“To describe this as disturbing is an understatement,” James said. “It makes you wonder what somebody’s thinking. How could they do this?”
At six in the morning that same day, thirty-four-year-old Porucha Phillips, who were suspected to be the mother of two tied children, returned to the house.
“She was charged with injury to a child by omission with serious bodily injury and Injury to a child by omission with bodily injury and is being held in the Bexar County Jail,” the report said.
According to James Keith, the Child Protective Services was called in, and the toddlers found tied were taken to the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio.
One of them had a fractured right arm and wrist, while the other has superficial injuries including abrasions and scarring.
The neighbors were shocked to discover what the officers found.
“When we heard of it, it was bad,” said Christina Rivera, who lives nearby. “It was shocking. Especially something happening across the street and we didn’t even know about it or see it.”
Meanwhile James Keith was grateful for that one brave soul who had called the authorities.
“I don’t even want to think about how this could have happened, how this could have played out, had our deputies not gotten there when they did,” he said.
*Above image only a representation; Photo credit: Buzzfeed
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