In a horrific case of child abuse, Domingo Flores and his wife, Mayra Chavez, were convicted and sentenced to prison for torturing Flores’ 10-year-old daughter. The abuse included plunging the girl’s head into ice baths, rubbing a pepper in her eye, and denying her food. The abuse was reported by the girl’s relatives, but when Anaheim police visited the apartment, they did not intervene to stop the abuse. The lawsuit filed by the girls’ biological mother accuses the county and city of Anaheim of failing to fully investigate the situation or take appropriate action to protect the girls.
Reports of abuse in the Flores household date back to 2017 when Perez and Flores separated, but the abuse escalated in December 2018 when the girls stayed with their mother over the holidays and described the abuse they had endured from their father and stepmother. Despite a court order to remove the girls from their father’s home due to ongoing abuse allegations, county employees ultimately returned the girls to their father’s custody, where the abuse continued for years.
In August 2022, Flores and Chavez rushed their 10-year-old daughter to the hospital, claiming she fell down a flight of stairs. However, the girl was unconscious, severely malnourished, and had extensive injuries consistent with years of abuse. Six children, including the two daughters and Chavez’s four biological children, lived with Flores and Chavez at the time of their arrest. Chavez was found guilty of child abuse and sentenced to seven years to life in prison, while Flores pleaded guilty to child abuse and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
The lawsuit alleges that Anaheim police did not intervene to stop the abuse during a welfare check on the girls in 2022 and that county social workers failed to properly investigate reports of physical abuse inflicted on the girls. Despite reports of abuse dating back to 2017, the girls remained in their father’s home, where they endured years of torture. The girls now live with their mother, who has custody, and the city of Anaheim and Orange County Social Services Agency are facing scrutiny for their handling of the case.
After the sentencing of Chavez in November, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer stated that the system failed the little girl and her siblings. Spitzer promised to investigate how this failure occurred and prevent another child from suffering a similar fate. The case highlights the tragic consequences of failures in the child welfare system and the need for accountability to protect vulnerable children from abuse and neglect. The city of Anaheim and Orange County are facing legal action for their alleged negligence in addressing the abuse suffered by the two girls.
