Calif. Same-Sex Parents Accused of Beating, Starving Children

Two California women who are in a domestic partnership have been accused by police of beating and starving their children, California's Monterey Herald reports.

Lesbian couple Eraca Dwan Craig, 31, and Christian Jessica Deana, 44, have been charged with felony child cruelty, false impressment and other chargers based on allegations they have harmed and neglected their children, who have since been removed from the women's Monterey, Calif. home. The children are currently in protective custody while one was hospitalized.

The couple was taking care of two boys, ages 3 and 5 and one girl, 8, according to authorities. The children had bruises and signs of other physical and emotional abuse.

"It was a particularly heinous case," Miller told the Monterey Herald. The children had "hardly eaten for months."

Authorities say that the girl appeared to suffer the most extreme damage as she was chained to the floor to prevent her from getting food.

"It seems that the little girl was the major target of this abuse," Miller said. He said the girl looked like "like a concentration camp victim."

Miller added that the girl spent five days in the hospital and that she seemed "traumatized." There was also evidence that she may have been put in a closet and that she was chained at the ankle and, at times, around her neck.

An investigation found that there was little food inside the home, which was filthy, reports say. Miller added that the older boy and the girl were adopted and the younger boy is the biological son of one of the women.

Craig and Deana were arrested at the scene on March 14. They do not have prior criminal records and are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 28.