FLORIDA — The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office arrested a father and mother for Aggravated Child Abuse after discovering they routinely restrained their 12-year-old daughter with zip ties and kept her confined to a “playhouse.”
Deputies responded to a report of a possible kidnapping in Sarasota on December 27, 2015, when a neighbor reported there was a young girl on his front porch with her hands zip-tied together and separate zip ties around her ankles.
The girl explained that Eugenio and Victoria Erquiaga restrained her with zip-ties in front of her body when she gets angry and regularly locked her in a playhouse in a loft area of the home, which is used as her bedroom. Detectives went to the child’s home and found a playhouse that was 5′ by 7′ wide and 7′ tall. The door can be barred shut by a large piece of wood and all but one of the windows had been screwed shut. The playhouse reeked of urine and the wooden floor is discolored. The girl said because she can’t get out of the playhouse she is often forced to soil herself.
When asked about an “eye hook” inside the playhouse, the Erquiagas explained that they would secure the girl’s zip ties to it to keep her from kicking the playhouse apart. They also stated that while the child is allowed to eat dinner with the family, which includes seven other children, she is sometimes forced to sit on the floor to eat.
The couple defended their actions and blamed the girl’s behavioral issues. When interviewed, the other children confirmed that their sister was zip tied and confined to the playhouse.
They were taken into protective custody by the Department of Children and Families when the investigation began.
The Erquiagas turned themselves in to the Sarasota County Jail this morning and are currently being held without bond.
