A Bexar County Grand jury has indicted three people in connection with the abuse of children found tied-up and chained in an East side backyard.
In late April, Bexar County deputies found the two children, ages 3 and 4, tied up in the backyard of a Camelot II home, one with a dog leash the other with a chain. They were dehydrated and showed signs of abuse.
Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood credits concerned neighbors for finding them after they heard their cries.
“They only reason we found out, thank God, is that a neighbor did the right thing and made a phone call and then the sheriffs came out to investigate and they actually furthered their duties because no one answered the front door, and they went around back and looked over the fence,” LaHood says.
The children were alone outside. There were six unattended children inside the home ranging from 10 months to 10 years old. Now their parents and guardians are facing six charges of injury to a child. Proucha Philips, 34, mother of the six children inside, faces three counts. Her husband, 36-year-old Deandre Dorch faces two counts, and 30-year-old Cheryl Reed, the mother of the two children found outside faces one count. Reed was in California when the children were found.
Dorch and Phillips returned to the house after deputies arrived. All three had recently moved from California to San Antonio. Each count is a third-degree felony and carries two to 10 years in prison.
