A neighbor called police at around 11:45 p.m. on April 28 to report what she believed was an instance of child abuse, after hearing a child crying for a long time.
What deputies found when they arrived, was alarming.
They knocked on the front door, but after no answer, they climbed on a ladder to look into the backyard—they spotted a 2-year-old boy chained to the ground, and a 3-year-old girl tied via dog leash to a door, according to a press release by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
The deputies recovered the children, and transported them to The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio where they are being treated.
It gets worse, however. Inside the home, responding officers found six more children; ranging in age from 10-months to 13-years-old, all of which were found without adult supervision.
Early the following morning, the parents returned to the house and were immediately taken into custody. They are being interrogated by Bexar County investigators.
The two children found outside were not children of the parents; police are still working to locate the parents.
Porucha Phillips, 34, the mother of the six children found inside, is facing several charges: injury to a child by omission with serious bodily injury, and child neglect.
Her husband, and father to the six children indoors, is still being questioned.
All 8 children are currently in the care of Child Protective Services.
