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A California couple who claimed to have found their 4-year-old son unresponsive in a pool last year have been indicted on murder and torture charges — with authorities alleging the dad also sexually assaulted the boy before he was killed.
Jose Maria Cuatro Jr., 28, and Ursula Elaine Juarez, 25, are facing the charges for the death of their son, Noah, who died in a hospital last July — one day after the couple reported finding him motionless in an apartment complex pool, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Cuatro also faces charges of assault on a child causing death and sexual penetration with a child under the age of 10, while Juarez is also charged with child abuse under circumstances likely to cause death, prosecutors said.
The couple allegedly began torturing Noah over a four-month period beginning last April, then killed him on July 5 at their Palmdale apartment — the same day Cuatro is accused of sexually assaulting his son, the prosecutors say.
A suspicious-death investigation was first launched after hospital staffers found injuries inconsistent with drowning and that indicated possible abuse, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
A coroner determined Noah’s death to be a homicide, according to the law enforcement agency.
The boy had been previously placed in foster care and was in the custody of his parents and his great-grandmother on an alternating basis, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Social workers last saw Noah in June. One month earlier, the Department of Children and Family Services sought a court order to remove him from his parents’ home based on a tip that he had possibly been sexually abused, the newspaper reports.
The boy died two weeks after social workers sought a 30-day continuance to keep investigating the claim, the LA Times reports.
If convicted, Cuatro faces up to 47 years to life in prison, while Juarez could receive up to 32 years behind bars.
Prosecutors have recommended that their bail be set at $4 million and $3 million, respectively, according to the DA’s office.
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