Parents Who Kept Girl in Closet Sent to Prison

The parents of a San Bernardino girl who was locked in a cockroach-infested closet for 10 years have been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to felony charges.

Concluding a case that captured widespread attention, San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Patrick Morris sentenced Sandra Sauceda, 32, to five years in state prison and ordered Joseph Sauceda, 34, imprisoned for eight years and four months.

The judge cited Sandra Sauceda’s remorse and the fact that she did not beat her daughter in handing her the lighter sentence.

Last October, police responding to a call from relatives found 12-year-old Rose Sauceda locked in a tiny closet littered with human waste and crawling with insects. Bruised, malnourished and clothed in a urine-stained sweat shirt, the girl allegedly had been allowed out of the closet only once a day throughout most of her life.

The Saucedas were arrested and later pleaded guilty to charges of felony child endangerment causing great bodily injury.

Rose, one of the Saucedas’ seven children, is now in a foster home. Contributions to a trust fund established on her behalf by police now total $53,000.