Other kids taken from couple accused of abuse

By Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, Michelle Casady

A couple whose three adopted children recently were found bruised and malnourished previously had fostered two other children who were alleged to have been abused, according to a source familiar with the case who requested anonymity.

The children reportedly were removed from the couple's care in 2007, according to the source, who's not authorized to speak. The allegations involved physical abuse and medical neglect, the source said.

Iliana Archuleta, 40, a local day care owner and adoptive mother of the three children, was formally charged with injury to a child and released on bond Friday.

Bexar County sheriff's Lt. Jose Trevino said she turned herself in at noon. She immediately paid bail — $7,500 for each count of serious bodily injury to each of the three children — and left the building.

Several neighbors of Archuleta said they remember seeing the two foster children — who they described as a toddler and infant — not long after the family moved into the Northwest Side subdivision in 2006.

“They were so secretive about everything they did we hardly saw those kids,” neighbor Jon McAnarney said. That was similar, he said, to their behavior later with the three adopted children.

Iliana Archuleta and her husband, Tim, also have two biological children, who are now 6 and 13, according to an affidavit file in the case.

Tim Archuleta has not been charged.

McAnarney said the couple never made efforts to socialize with neighbors, never introduced their children to anyone and — besides coming and going from the home — rarely were seen.

“I just remember not seeing the (two children) for a long time and hoping they were OK,” neighbor Stacy McAnarney said, adding it was less than six months after they last saw the first two children that the Archuletas came home with the three children, who later were adopted.

One of those children last week told investigators that Rogelio Archuleta, whom the children referred to their uncle and babysitter, and Iliana Archuleta routinely starved and beat them.

The girl said they would be punished for sneaking food, locked in closets and forced to bite each others' toes and ears, after which they were made to pour bleach on the wounds, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

All three children — one is 8 and two are 10-year-old frateral twins — were forced to sleep in a bathtub with the sliding glass doors locked, the girl told police. And sometimes they were forced to eat butter and drink water until they vomited, and then were forced to eat the vomit as well, according to the affidavit.

Two of the children remained hospitalized Friday.

Rogelio Archuleta, 26, who reportedly lived in their home and worked at Iliana's day care center, Honey Tree Pre-School and Child Development Center, was arrested Wednesday on three charges of causing serious bodily injury to the three children.

Rogelio Archuleta's bond was set at $50,000 for each count.

The comparatively low amount of Iliana Archuleta's bond — set by Judge Angus K. McGinty of the 144th District Court — baffled Catherine Babbitt, chief of the Family Justice and Victim's Assistance Division with the Bexar County district attorney's office.

“That's way below the recommended amount for a first-degree felony,” she said. “Even adding all three up, that's still way below the recommended amount for even one case.”

According to a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services website, the Archuletas may have received as much as $545 in monthly state adoption subsidies for each child, as well as other money connected to the adoption of children placed in state care because of abuse or neglect.

Two of the children remained hospitalized Friday.

State compliance history records show the Honey Tree Pre-School was cited for a number of deficiencies from Jan. 2, 2010, to Oct. 19, 2012, from faulty recordkeeping to a lack of proper staff training.

On Nov. 30, 2010, inspectors found that smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors had not been tested in accordance with state law.

Researcher Julie Domel contributed to this report.