Couple charged with endangering children
Posted on 12/12/2002 9:13:53 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Couple charged with endangering children
12/12/2002
WACO, Texas - The parents of two children authorities said were denied food and forced to live in a shed with no heat or bathroom have made arrangements to surrender later this week.
Rhonda Speer, 39, and Martin Speer, 60, are charged with endangering her 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. Arrest warrants were issued Wednesday, said Justice of the Peace Billy Martin.
They face up to 10 years in prison, if convicted.
Detective Clay Perry of the McLennan County Sheriff's Department, who interviewed the couple Tuesday, said they plan to turn themselves in at the end of the week.
Martin Speer and another man have each claimed he is the girl's father, and a judge has ordered paternity tests.
Authorities started investigating the Speers two weeks after Child Protective Services workers took temporary custody of the youngsters after reports that they were dirty, thin and neglected.
The children, who were attending Crawford schools at the time, have been in state foster care since Nov. 15, according to court records.
The boy and girl told CPS workers they were denied food as punishment for their "lying, stealing and being lazy." They also said they were spanked with a belt, bamboo pole or board.
The children told CPS workers they were forced to sleep in a garage-like structure with a roof but no ceiling while their parents lived in a small trailer 75 yards away.
The trailer was heated by an open flame from a propane stove and had a bathroom, while the structure in which the children stayed had no heat source, no electricity and no restroom, according to records.
Rhonda Speer testified at a CPS hearing in 19th State District Court earlier this month that she allowed the children to sleep inside the trailer with her and Martin Speer when the temperature dipped below 50.
But the children told CPS workers that they were never allowed to sleep in the trailer.
Walter Franklin Carter Jr., 47, who also claims to be the girl's father, has been indicted and remains jailed on three counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of indecency with a child. He is charged with assaulting the girl, according to court records.
Yikes, this is from Crawford!
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