SAN DIEGO (CNS) - An East Village couple was behind bars Wednesday for allegedly subjecting a 3-year old child to torture and sexual abuse over a several-month period while caring for the toddler at their home, San Diego police reported.
Officers arrested Marcos Javier Ramirez, 27, and 25-year-old Vennesia Ruiz in the Midway area on Tuesday evening, SDPD public-affairs Lt. Shawn Takeuchi said.
Ramirez and Ruiz had been entrusted by an acquaintance to care for the child when the abuse allegedly began last October, Takeuchi said. Three months later, the toddler's mother began to suspect that there was abuse occurring and notified the police, the spokesman said.
Ramirez was booked on suspicion of lewd acts with a minor, forcible sex with a foreign object, torture and child cruelty, according to jail records. Ruiz was being held on suspicion of two counts of the latter charge. Both were scheduled for arraignment April 6.
Takeuchi, who declined to specify the child's gender, described the suspects as "a couple" but said he did not know if they are husband and wife. He also said he was unsure what circumstances led the toddler's mother to hire them as care providers.
