Area Woman Pleads Guilty for Tying Up Son Nightly

An Oxnard woman accused of repeatedly tying up her 3-year-old son at night to keep him from getting to the refrigerator and stove pleaded guilty to a child-abuse charge Thursday in Ventura County Municipal Court.

Laura Tafoya, 22, faces a maximum of nine years in state prison for admitting to a charge of felony child abuse causing great bodily harm. In exchange, prosecutors dropped a torture charge that could have put the mother of four--with a fifth child due in November--behind bars for life.

At the same hearing, Tafoya’s husband, 22-year-old Jorge Cochran, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of child abuse, with prosecutors dropping a felony count. He could receive as much as a year in jail.

Sentencing is set for Oct. 10.

Public Defender Bill Maxwell saw the charges as an example of overzealous prosecution.

“This lady inappropriately tried to control her child who was out of control,” he said. “They needed help. This is the societal way of getting help.”

Tafoya tied her son’s ankles together nightly for a month with ropes or a sweater that left him with scars, prosecutors said. Maxwell said his client and her husband were trying to ensure that their child would not cause a fire by turning the stove on and could not raid the refrigerator.

“It’s probably not criminal behavior that cries out for a life sentence,” Maxwell said. “I think the lady was overcharged.”

He called the special allegation of great bodily injury “questionable” and noted her husband’s felony charge stemmed from failing to prevent Tafoya from tying up their child.

But prosecutors say the couple exhibited a pattern of abuse that warranted a tough stance.

“The method of abuse that was inflicted was unusually egregious,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Patricia Kelliher, head of the sexual assault and family protection unit. “It was not one isolated incident where a parent lost control and injured their child. This was a continuous course of conduct of inflicting unnecessary pain on this child.”

Tafoya, a Mexican immigrant who does not speak fluent English, answered the judge’s and prosecutors’ questions through an interpreter. In addition to the prison term, she may be subject to thousands of dollars in fines and penalties. Moreover, Tafoya has applied for American citizenship, which is now unlikely to be granted because of her criminal record, Maxwell said. She could be deported after completing her sentence.

“My client is extremely frightened,” Maxwell told Judge Steven Hintz. The couple’s four children remain in county custody.