'[B]efore something really bad happened'

Court records: Starved kids lived a nightmare: Kids found starved, bruised and sexually assaulted in a Dallas motel

Abneris Santiago finally called relatives and told them that she feared for her life and the life of her children. She told authorities she had to do something 'before something really bad happened.'

I'm assuming she meant death, for three of her four children were found locked in a motel bathroom where they have been kept, starved and in one case continually sexually abused, for at least nine months, allegedly by the mother's boyfriend, Alfred Santiago. Their life was torture, and from the news account, their mother did very little to end the situation. Now both mother and boyfriend are in jail facing charges. The three children and their healthy one-year old half-sister (the child of both Santiagos) are in foster care, being treated. They were unable to hold down food when fed, and had to be watched for food hoarding. They had taken to keeping food hidden in things like shampoo bottles during the time they were kept in their prison.

I don't know how these children are going to recover. Physically a lot can be done, and with remedial schooling they can catch up with their peers, but they're going to have to have intensive therapy to help with their emotional and mental states. Their torturer sounds like a monster, and their mother (although I have some small sympathy for her due to her own abuse) weak, ineffectual, and slow to protect her children. The man should never be around another child again and be locked away for the rest of his life. I think it would be better if the children remained together (at least the three older ones), but not necessarily with their mother--perhaps with relatives, as the family responded after that phone call by alerting police and an uncle met the police and went with them to the motel room.

This is so sad.