A truly horrific story of child abuse by a pregnant mother of six has emerged out of San Antonio, Texas. Police were called to a home after neighbors reported hearing a child screaming and crying in pain for hours. Police responded to the scene at 11:30 P.M. last Thursday night and heard the child. When no one responded at the door they forced their way into the home. Inside, they found an appalling scene; there were six children ranging in age from 10-months to 10 years old left alone inside a filthy home. When the police went into the backyard they discovered a 3-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl chained like dogs in the backyard. According to police, the boy had a chain tied around one ankle with the other end secured to the ground, while the girl was secured to the frame of the back door by a leash.
All of the children had some form of visible injury according to James Keith, spokesman for Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. Keith went on to state, “They were exhausted, tired, dehydrated. There was evidence that they had been previously abused, it makes you sick to see something like this, it makes you angry. To call this horrific is an understatement; this is as disturbing as it comes. Everybody is bothered by this. It motivates you to fight harder to make sure this is taken care of.”
The children who were chained in the backyard were taken to a hospital where the boy was treated for abrasions and scarring but the little girl was more seriously injured. She was suffering from a fractured arm and wrist and was placed in the pediatric intensive care unit. While processing the scene, the mother identified as Porucha Denise Phillips, 34, returned home early Friday morning along with her boyfriend. Police stated that Phillips denied the two toddlers chained in the backyard were her children. She told authorities that someone just left them at her home and she had intentions of dropping them off at a local fire department. A neighbor who did not want to be identified stated that Phillips had been caring for the two toddlers for the past 6 months. All eight children have been placed with Child Protective Services and police are looking for the parents of the two toddlers who were chained. Phillips has been charged with eight counts of child abandonment and injury to a child offenses and is being held on a $150K bail. There may be more charges filed as police continue their investigation.
