The STUART Boys - 5 and 2 1/2 yo - Santa Ana CA

A woman and her boyfriend
were charged Friday with felony child abuse after police said they
starved, beat and tied up the woman's two young sons, causing
malnutrition and dehydration so severe the children were hospitalized.
Cheryl Ann Stuart, 25 and her boyfriend, 31-year-old Mario Alberto
Colin, will be arraigned Monday on two counts each of child abuse and
corporal injury to a child. Prosecutors are seeking $250,000 bail for
each, the Orange County district attorney's office said. Police
were called to the Santa Ana home where Stuart was renting a room late
Wednesday by the landlord, who hadn't seen the children, ages 2 1/2 and
5, outside for some time. Officers found the boys with
bruised bodies, swollen limbs and bumps on their heads. The
younger boy had severe bruising to his forehead and cheek, and his lips
were so dry they had cracked and bled, said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, the
Santa Ana police spokesman. The 5-year-old had swollen arms and was
extremely dehydrated, and both boys had bruises and knots on their
heads, Bertagna said. Invesigators say Stuart admitted hitting
her sons but didn't think she was striking them too hard. Stuart
also told officers the children were given two cups of water a day. The
children were also sometimes tied to their bed and crib by the ankles,
Bertagna said. "She tied the kids to their beds using
bandages, shoelaces or chains to keep them from taking off while sheslept," Bertagna said. "She
didn't feed the boys, especially the 2-year-old, because she was
potty-training him" and was tired of changing his soiled sheets. Paramedics
took the boys to a hospital to be treated for dehydration, malnutrition
and injuries. They remained in the hospital Friday. The boys, whose
ribs were showing through their skin and whose stomachs were bloated,
are expected to recover, Bertagna said. It wasn't immediately
clear if Stuart or Colin, who have not yet made a court appearance, had
retained an attorney. Colin is not the father of the
children and is married with two children of his own, Bertagna said.
Bertagna said Colin is enrolled at California State University,
Fullerton, where he is pursuing a master's degree in teaching. The
police spokesman said his wife only learned he was having an affair with
Stuart on Friday when she spoke with detectives. Stuart told
police she met Colin in February and he gave her advice on how to
discipline her children, which is when police suspect the worst of the
abuse began. Colin has worked the past four months as a
behavioral technician at a Pico Rivera elementary school, where he
"deals with kids that have temper tantrums and behavioral issues," the
spokesman said. Bertagna said police will look into whether
Colin has abused any of the children at the school and whether he has
abused his own children, a 4-year-old boy and a baby girl. "We're
going to have to look into all of that," he said. "This investigation
will carry on." Neighbors on Stuart's quiet residential
street were abuzz Friday with news of her arrest earlier in the week and
said they had recently suspected something was wrong. A pile of toys,
including a wagon, a girl's pink-and-purple bicycle and a scooter, sat
in the driveway next to a boat and an SUV. Voices from a
religious TV program blared through an open window. Debra
Hughes, who lives six doors down the street, said she used to yell at
the children to stop playing in the road, but hadn't seen them outside
for at least a week. Hughes said she saw paramedics and police swarming
around the single-story house with a chain link fence on Wednesday night
and was shocked to discover the reason they were there. Neighbors
have since spent time talking with each other about what they could
have done to help. "We're all very much people on this block
who mind our own business but at this point, it's like, maybe we spent
too much time minding our business," Hughes said. "I believe we're also
at fault, 'cuz we all saw something and nobody said anything.

The boyfriend of a mother accused of abusing her 2-year-old and
5-year-old sons has also been arrested in connection with participating
in the abuse, police said Friday.
Mario Alberto Colin, 31, of Santa Ana, was arrested at 2:30 a.m.
Friday at the Santa Ana apartment he shares with his wife and two young
children, said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.

"There is evidence that links him to aiding and abetting her and also
his personal involvement in the abuse of the children," Bertagna said.
Colin is being held at the Santa Ana City Jail on suspicion of felony
willful cruelty to a child with possible injury or death and inflicting
injury upon a child, Bertagna said. His bail is set at $250,000.
His girlfriend, Cheryl Ann Stuart, 25, is accused of the same felony
charges. She is being held at the Santa Ana City Jail on $100,000 bail.
The pair was charged Friday and will make a court appearance on
Monday, Bertagna said.
Stuart was arrested Wednesday night at a home she rented on the 1400
block of North Parsons Place, Bertagna said.
Police went to the home where Stuart rented a bedroom after her
landlord called police to have them check on the boys' welfare, Bertagna
said.
Officers immediately noticed the 2-year-old had severe bruising to
his face, forehead and cheek and dry-cracked bloody lips and bruising
that appeared to be at varying stages, Bertagna said.
The 5-year-old had swollen arms and was extremely dehydrated. Both
boys had bruises and knots on their heads, Bertagna said.
Paramedics took the boys to a hospital to be treated for dehydration,
malnutrition and injuries. The boys, whose ribs were showing through
their skin, are expected to recover, Bertagna said.
"The woman admitted to the abuse," Bertagna said. Stuart said she
didn't hit the kids that hard, he said.
The boys remained in the hospital Friday and are expected to recover,
Bertagna said.
Detectives believe the abuse has been going on since February when
Colin and Stuart began a romantic relationship, Bertagna said.
Colin is employed as a behavioral technician at an elementary school
in Pico Rivera. As a behavioral technician, Colin works with small
children who are having temper tantrums and has been in the field for
about a decade, Bertagna said.
Colin is married and has a 9-month-old daughter and a 4-year-old son.
Detectives will be investigating the welfare of his children and those
at the school, Bertagna said.

A woman and her boyfriend
charged with starving, beating and tying up her two young sons are set
to appear in court. The Orange County district attorney's office
says 25-year-old Cheryl Ann Stuart and her boyfriend, 31-year-old Mario
Alberto Colin, will be arraigned Monday on two counts each of child
abuse and corporal injury to a child. Prosecutors say they
will seek $250,000 bail for each. Police were called to the
Santa Ana home where Stuart was renting a room late Wednesday by the
landlord, who hadn't seen the 2-year-old and 5-year-old children outside
for some time. Officers found the boys with bruised bodies,
swollen limbs and bumps on their heads, and their malnutrition and
dehydration were so severe they had to be hospitalized.

A Southern California woman
and her boyfriend accused of starving, beating and tying up her two
young sons were ordered held on $250,000 bail on Monday. Cheryl
Ann Stuart, 25, and her boyfriend, Mario Alberto Colin, 31, made a brief
appearance before Orange County Superior Court Judge Walter Schwarm,
who agreed to a higher than normal bail because the circumstances of the
case were "particularly aggravated." Schwarm also postponed
the arraignment on felony charges of child abuse and endangerment and
corporal injury on a child, to July 23, when they will enter pleas. Stuart
and Colin, who were dressed in street clothes and were not restrained,
said little during the 10-minute hearing. Schwarm also signed
a restraining order barring Stuart and Colin from seeing or speaking to
Stuart's children. Stuart's attorney, Julie Scalisi, argued
for lower bail during the hearing, saying Stuart had no prior criminal
record except for traffic violations and does not represent a flight
risk because she has strong ties to the community. Colin's
defense attorney, Ruben Salgado, did not immediately return a request
for comment. Last Wednesday, the landlord of the Santa Ana
home where Stuart was renting a room called police because he had not
seen the boys in some time. Officers found the boys, ages 2 and 5, in
the home with bruised bodies, swollen limbs and bumps on their heads.
Their malnutrition and dehydration were so severethey had to be hospitalized.
Before the hearing, Stuart's family members gathered outside the
court to show their support and said they believe Colin manipulated
Stuart into abusing her children. Stuart's father Ronald
Stuart said his daughter's behavior was out of character. "She's
like a puppet," he said. Stuart's brother Randy said he was
surprised when Colin was arrested because the family knew him as "Angelo
Gomez" since February. Police have said Colin was married
and had two children of his own. His wife learned of his affair Friday
when detectives informed her, Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. Her
brother said that he last saw his nephews two weeks ago and they looked
healthy. "She's not a monster. She ended up in the wrong
relationship with the wrong person," he said. Police reported
last week that Colin is enrolled at California State University,
Fullerton, where he is pursuing a master's degree in teaching. However,
university spokeswoman Paula Selleck, said Monday that Colin is not in
the school's master's program in teaching and is not in any degree
program there. Selleck said Colin had taken some extension courses, but
she had no details. Santa Ana police spokesman Cpl. Anthony
Bertagna said Monday that Colin had told detectives that he was working
on a teaching degree at Cal State Fullerton, but the suspect's claims
had not been confirmed.

The arraignment of a 25-year-old single mother and her married
boyfriend on charges that they abused her 2-year-old and 5-year-old sons
was continued Monday to July 23.
Cheryl Ann Stuart, 25, and Mario Alberto Colin, 31, both of Santa
Ana, are charged with willful cruelty to a child with possible injury or
death and inflicting injury upon a child.
The couple was arrested last week after Santa Ana police were
summoned to a home Stuart lived in on North Parsons Place when her
landlord asked them to check on the welfare of her two sons.
Officers noticed the 2-year-old had severe bruising to his face,
forehead and cheek and dry, cracked, bloody lips and bruising that
appeared to be at varying stages, a police spokesman said. The
5-year-old had swollen arms and was extremely dehydrated. Both boys had
bruises and knots on their heads.
Paramedics took the boys to a hospital to be treated for dehydration,
malnutrition and injuries. The boys, whose ribs were showing through
their skin, are expected to recover, according to police.
Colin is a behavioral technician at an elementary school in Pico
Rivera. He is also married to another woman and has a 9-month-old
daughter and a 4-year-old son, police said.

O.C. couple pleads guilty to tying up kids

Saturday, October 09, 2010


Cheryl Ann Stuart, 26, and Mario Alberto Colin, 31, are accused starving and beating the woman's two young sons and tying them to their beds. (KABC Photo)

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- A mother and her boyfriend have pleaded guilty to beating and tying up her two young sons in Orange County.

Cheryl Stuart, 26, and Mario Colin, 31, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of child abuse and one felony count of corporal injury on a child on Friday.

Police arrested them after Stuart's 2-year-old and 5-year-old sons were found covered in bruises and malnourished in their Santa Ana home in June. Authorities found that Stuart had been tying the boys to their bed and crib by their wrists and ankles to keep them from moving.

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Prosecutors said Colin, who works with children with behavioral issues in the El Rancho School District, sent dozens of text messages urging his girlfriend to tie the boys down.
Stuart and Colin were each sentenced to 270 days in jail and three years probation.
The two children were hospitalized and released into protective custody. They are not living with a family member.