| For Immediate Release Case # 13NF1694 May 31, 2013 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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MAN AND WOMAN TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR KEEPING TWO YOUNG FEMALE RELATIVES MALNOURISHED AND LOCKED INSIDE UNSANITARY MOBILE HOME
FULLERTON – A man and woman will be arraigned today for keeping two young female relatives malnourished and locked inside the unsanitary mobile home without letting them go outside. Lester Louis Huffmire and his wife Petra Huffmire, both 41 from Anaheim, are charged with two felony counts of child abuse, two misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment, and a sentencing enhancement for great bodily injury. If convicted on all counts, they face a maximum sentence of seven years and four months in state prison. Lester Huffmire is being held on $100,000 bail and the People will request the same bail amount for Petra Huffmire at their arraignment today, May 31, 2013, 1:30 p.m. in Department N-12, North Justice Center, Fullerton.
Lester Huffmire and Petra Huffmire are accused of living in an unsanitary mobile park home with the victims, 10-year-old Jane Doe#1 and 5-year-old Jane Doe #2. The defendants are accused of having a duty of care to the victims.
Between May 21, 2010, and May 20, 2013, the defendants are accused of keeping the mobile park home unsanitary and uninhabitable, including kitchen appliances covered in mold and cobwebs, stacks of trash, debris, mold, and feces throughout the home, a pile of used condoms under a stuffed teddy bear, and inoperable toilets. They are accused of keeping the mobile park home in this condition while Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 lived there. Lester Huffmire and Petra Huffmire are accused of being unemployed and playing an online computer game, World of Warcraft, all day.
The defendants are accused of not letting the victims out of the home for any reason. They are accused of keeping the victims from attending school.
On May 20, 2013, after a call from a neighbor, an officer from the Anaheim Police Department went to the home to conduct a welfare check and found the two victims with dirt crusted on their feet, matted hair, damaged teeth beyond repair, and malnourished.
Deputy District Attorney Lori Smith of the Family Protection Unit is prosecuting this case.
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