Couple Accused of Torturing 11-Year-Old Girl, Forcing Her to Sleep in Garage and Wear Dog Leash
A family services worker and her boyfriend were accused of torturing, starving, strangling and forcing an 11-year-old girl in their care to wear a dog collar.
Priscilla Mestaz and her partner, Anthony Machuca, currently face 27 felony and misdemeanor charges, including torture, conspiracy to commit torture, child endangerment under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death, and assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the alleged abuse. a statement From the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office.
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The investigation began Jan. 31 after deputies received a tip that an 11-year-old boy was refusing to return to the home he shared with Mestaz, his aunt and a case manager for a child and family services agency. The victim, who was not identified in the sheriff’s statement, told deputies he was physically abused.
Deputies and detectives with the department’s special victims unit contacted Mestaz, who said his nephew had been living with him and Machuca since the summer of 2024, according to authorities.
Booking Photos of Priscilla Mestaz and Anthony Machuca
During the investigation, the sheriff’s office said they obtained a search warrant and had security cameras at the home that “corroborated the statements made by the victim.”
They also determined that the girl was living in an uninsulated and unheated garage in the backyard, which exposed the child to unsafe temperatures found year-round, according to the release.
The girl was also subjected to severe physical abuse that included “choking, punching and slapping” between January 2025 and January 2026, according to a criminal complaint filed March 16 by the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office referenced in the sheriff’s statement. The couple is also accused of “denying adequate nutrition” to the victim, causing her to be “malnourished” and forcing her to perform “intense physical exercise” or threatening her with assault, according to the complainant.
The victim was also restrained, dragged on a dog leash and subjected to “constant verbal abuse,” prosecutors said.
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The sheriff’s office said Machuca was arrested the day deputies first made contact, but Mestaz, who was in the advanced stage of her pregnancy, was not arrested until March 12, after she gave birth.
The baby and the other 4-year-old child living in the home were taken into custody by Stanislaus County Child Protective Services.
The sheriff’s office said additional charges could potentially be filed against the duo as they continue to review digital evidence in the case.
Both defendants are currently being held on $1 million bail after detectives completed bail increases in the case.
Both are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on March 26, according to reviewed court records. Oxygen.com. There was no lawyer name in Mestaz’s records. Oxygen.com He reached out to Machuca’s attorney, Joseph Cox, but did not immediately receive a response.
