A couple is facing charges of unlawful restraint and injury to a child as they are accused of handcuffing two children, aged 6 and 7, to their bunks during a weekend visit. David Gonzalez and Anita Valdez reportedly subjected the children to physical abuse, including beating them with belts and making them eat hot chili peppers as punishment. The authorities were alerted when Gonzalez’s ex-partner, the mother of his 7-year-old daughter, contacted the police after the child disclosed being handcuffed to a bed for an extended period during her stay at her father’s house.
The 7-year-old girl, with visibly red wrists, recounted how Gonzalez and Valdez restrained both her hands to the bed, compelling her to sleep while confined. She was only freed the next morning by one of Valdez’s younger children. When the mother confronted Gonzalez about her daughter’s injuries, he initially denied restraining the 7-year-old but abruptly ended the conversation, prompting the mother to report the incident to law enforcement.
San Antonio Police Department officers visited Gonzalez and Valdez’s residence on September 1, where Valdez initially denied handcuffing the girl. However, she later admitted to restraining her own 6-year-old using handcuffs, citing the child’s purported mental health issues as the reason. During a search of the house, officers found two sets of handcuffs attached to one child’s bed and one set with a “ratchet strap” on the other bed. The couple provided conflicting accounts during police interviews.
Gonzales claimed ignorance about the handcuffing, stating that all the children were asleep when he returned home and went to bed early. Conversely, Valdez mentioned that Gonzalez was still awake when she arrived home later. Upon speaking with two juveniles residing with the couple, police discovered that the stepmother frequently handcuffed the children for various reasons. The children revealed that Valdez restricted them to one meal per day and that Gonzalez would punish them by making them eat hot chili peppers, whipping them with a belt, and giving them unpleasant gummy candy that induced drowsiness.
After posting a bond of $10,000 (£7,400), Gonzalez and Valdez were released from Bexar County Jail. Their next court appearance is scheduled for December 1.