Woman Tells of Torture, Shows Injuries

A 19-year-old El Monte woman who authorities allege was treated as the family slave for most of her life tearfully testified against her mother Monday, describing her tortures and showing her wounds.

The mother, Maria Carmen Salcedo, 41, is accused of beating her daughter Melissa, who is slightly retarded, never sending her to school and ordering her into a closet when visitors came.

Taking the stand in El Monte Municipal Court, about a mile from the Allgeyer Street home where she grew up, Melissa broke down in tears. Regaining her composure, she began describing her experiences.

“I’d get hit with brush or belt . . . sometimes with the belt or belt buckle,” if she didn’t move quickly enough or didn’t do her chores, she said. Wiping away tears, Melissa said her mother would force her to eat standing up, hold her head in the toilet, bend back her fingers and choke her.

As Salcedo, the mother of 13, sometimes covered her eyes, Melissa showed Municipal Judge Peter Meeka injuries she said had been inflicted by her mother: front teeth chipped by a vacuum cleaner hose, an ear maimed from gnawing and a burn on her hand from a stove.

Salcedo’s attorney, Daniel Sullivan, sought to show through his questioning of several sisters that their stepfather, Tito Dominguez, 56, forced his wife to inflict the abuse.

Dominguez “used to beat your mother mercilessly,” Sullivan said as he questioned Pauline Delgado, one of the sisters. “He controlled everything in the household? You saw him punch your mother in the face?”

“Everything,” Pauline Delgado said, “was Tito’s fault.”

Melissa testified, however, that although her stepfather’s comments sometimes prompted beatings, he never ordered them.

Dominguez, who is a fugitive, is charged with five counts of rape involving Melissa from 1993 to 1997. He also is charged with child endangerment.

Another sister, Gloria Salcedo, 26, now Melissa’s legal guardian, recalled in detail incidents of abuse with a hair brush, choking and extremely hot baths. She testified that Melissa was referred to as “Cinderella.”

Another sister, Rachel, recalled her mother slapping and choking Melissa and hitting her with a brush. But she said she had not seen how Melissa’s arm was broken once, her teeth damaged or her hand burned.

The charges follow a Times article detailing the allegations against Salcedo and Dominguez.

Melissa was rescued after sisters Rachel and Gloria Salcedo, who had left the family home, went to El Monte police and alleged that Dominguez had sexually abused them as children.

Police arrested Dominguez, and the same day social workers removed Melissa and seven other children from the home.

Dominguez was released after prosecutors determined that they had insufficient evidence. But after inquiries by The Times this summer, El Monte police renewed their probe, and charges against both parents were filed.

Salcedo, who had moved to Colton, surrendered to police. Her bail was set at $1 million, and she faces a possible sentence of life in prison. She has pleaded not guilty.

Dominguez, however, fled. He was last seen in Texas and is believed to be in Mexico.

He faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison.

The preliminary hearing resumes today. The judge must decide whether to dismiss the charges or order Salcedo to stand trial.