Del Mar

An Oceanside man suspected of abandoning, battering and molesting twin boys at a Del Mar motel was ordered Monday to stand trial on six felony charges.

The former girlfriend of the defendant, Charles Thomas McCoy, 27, testified Monday against McCoy about the abuse of the boys, now 3, who are living in a foster home.

Dorothy DeSimone, 25, of Oceanside testified that McCoy took her twins the Thursday before Easter and that she did not see them again until she saw a picture of their badly beaten bodies in the following Monday’s newspaper.

Having already pleaded guilty to one count of child endangerment, DeSimone testified during McCoy’s preliminary hearing. She said she decided to testify against him “because he obviously did it,” DeSimone told San Diego Municipal Judge Terry Knoepp.

DeSimone is serving a one-year jail term given her July 5.

DeSimone’s testimony centered on a 1988 incident when one of her children suffered a broken leg and the time leading up to the children’s disappearence and eventual discovery.

In January, 1988, Andrew DeSimone suffered a broken leg while staying with his mother and McCoy at a North County motel. One of the charges stems from that episode.

DeSimone testified that, when she was getting out of the shower she heard a “thud hit the floor.” McCoy told her the boy had fallen. The two took him to the hospital, where a counselor approached DeSimone about the injury.

The counselor then talked to McCoy, and the conversation ended in a “heated” exchange, she said.

Subsequently, a Juvenile Court ordered McCoy not to see the children.

DeSimone testified that, on March 23, McCoy took the twins while she attended a counseling session. She said the three never returned and she searched North County for them for three days.

DeSimone said McCoy returned home March 26, without the twins, telling her they were fine and in Arizona.

The next day, DeSimone said, her mother showed her a newspaper, which had a picture of the twins. She immediately called the hospital to find out their condition.

DeSimone said that at first she did not believe McCoy could have done such a thing, but that she changed her mind “when I heard what my sons had to say.”

McCoy’s arraignment was set for July 31.