February 11, 2010 8:17 PM
By JAZMINE ULLOA, The Brownsville Herald

The girl whose parents locked her in a closet every day after school will remain in foster care, a visiting judge ruled Thursday in a closed hearing.

Associate Judge James Belton also ordered that two of her three brothers remain in the care of family relatives.

John Lennan, spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, reserved comment on the care of the oldest son, as he is about to turn 18 years old and is not a party to the case. Texas family law states Child Protective Services only has jurisdiction over children up to 17 years of age.

Brownsville police officers arrested Alfredo and Leticia Ines in late January on charges of second-degree injury to a child and unlawful restraint. They are accused of locking the 12-year-old in the closet after she came home from school for about a year, letting her out only to use the restroom and, sometimes, to eat.

At Thursday’s hearing, the state presented reasons the children came into emergency state care, Lennan said. Alfredo and Leticia Ines were represented by attorneys appointed by the judge and did not contest the rulings.

The girl’s three brothers are 17, 13 and 11. Leticia Ines, 40, is said to be the mother of all four children. Alfredo Ines, 43, is only the biological father of the youngest son, investigators said.

All four children are believed to have different fathers, Lennan said after Thursday’s hearing. All the siblings will be allowed to visit each other based on therapists’ opinions, he said.

The children have a court-appointed guardian and attorneys "to serve as their voice to the judge," Lennan said. The girl will remain in foster care for the duration of case proceedings against her mother and stepfather.

Child protective services began investigating at the humble, pink duplex in West Brownsville where the family lived when one of the girl’s three brothers reported the allegations of abuse to officials at his school, police said.

When authorities found the girl, she was so malnourished she looked like she was about 8 years old, investigators said. She was old enough to be in seventh grade but instead was in fifth.

Neighbors have described the family as reserved and said the Ines children would not play outside. They also recalled Leticia Ines as a strict mother.

Olga Orozco, a distant relative and godmother of Leticia Ines, said she did not know the young girl was being kept in the closet. She learned of the case against Leticia Ines through news reports.

"I do not know how to describe how I felt. I was shocked," said Orozco, who waited outside of the hearing room Thursday for more information on the girl’s whereabouts.

Orozco said she last saw the family last month at the hospital when Leticia Ines’ father died. She described Leticia Ines as private woman who rarely invited family to her home and her daughter as a quiet and obedient girl.

"I just want to see the girl," Orozco said.

Alfredo and Leticia Ines remain in custody under $275,000 bonds each. They have court-appointed attorneys to represent them on the criminal charges.

Public records show the couple married in 1998 and that Alfredo Ines has a 1-year-old son with another woman.

The 12-year-old girl is undergoing therapy and is in better condition, Lennan said. At the hearing, the girl was said to be happy at her foster home and to have been making Valentine’s Day cards for the first time earlier this week.

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/care-108501-family-school.html

Emphasis added by H4K Editor