CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / APPLE VALLEY

A woman and her 16-year-old male roommate were arrested after authorities found her emaciated, battered and bruised 5-year-old son locked in a closet.

Desiree Gonzalez, 31, and the unidentified roommate were taken into custody Tuesday after San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies received an anonymous call saying a child was being held hostage and denied food and water. They also were told that he was being burned and beaten.

When they arrived, deputies found nine children, three adults and the boy in the closet. The boy was weak and covered with lacerations. “The first thing he asked for was a drink of water,” said sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodie Miller.

He was taken to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, where he is being treated. The other children were removed by the county Department of Children and Family Services.

-- David Kelly