Left to right: Priscilla Mestaz, Anthony Machuca (Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office).
A California woman and her partner are accused of dragging the woman's 11-year-old niece around with a dog leash, strangling her, and forcing her to sleep in a cold garage without a bed.
Priscilla Mestaz, 37, and Anthony Machuca, 36, each face 27 charges, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office announced. The "most serious" charges include torture, conspiracy to commit torture, child endangerment under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death, inflicting injury upon a child, assault with a deadly weapon, and criminal threats.
The 11-year-old girl had been staying with her aunt, Mestaz, and Mestaz's "partner," Machuca, since the summer of 2024, the sheriff's office said. In January 2025, the alleged abuse began, and according to deputies, it lasted for at least a year.
The couple strangled, punched, and slapped the girl, authorities contend, and they forced her to sleep "in an uninsulated, unfinished garage without bedding or heat during winter months." Furthermore, they reportedly did not give the child "adequate nutrition," causing her to become malnourished.
The defendants also forced the girl to "perform strenuous physical exercise to the point of exhaustion under threat of assault," "dragg[ed] the child with a dog leash," and verbally abused and threatened her with injury, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office said.
Authorities became aware of the case on Jan. 31, when deputies were told that a girl — later identified as the alleged victim — "was refusing to return home" because "her aunt had been physically abusing her." Officers, including detectives with the sheriff's office's special victims unit, responded to the home and spoke with the aunt.
Mestaz was in an "advanced stage of pregnancy," and a 4-year-old child was also at the home. Officers continued to investigate, and ultimately identified Mestaz and Machuca as suspects.
Investigators carried out a search warrant on the home and found surveillance cameras both inside and outside the home. The cameras reportedly showed footage that backed up the 11-year-old's statements and showed that she had been "living primarily" in the garage and backyard.
"The garage was not a converted living space, lacking heating and air conditioning, and insulation, leaving the child exposed to unsafe temperatures year-round," the sheriff's office said.
Machuca was arrested at the home, but Mestaz was not taken into custody given her pregnancy, the sheriff's office said. After giving birth about six weeks later, Mestaz was arrested on March 12. During their investigation, detectives also learned that Mestaz "served as a child and family services case manager with a local organization."
Both the baby and the 4-year-old were "taken into protective custody by Stanislaus County Child Protective Services." The sheriff's office did not say what happened to the 11-year-old girl.
At the time of the sheriff's office's announcement on Monday, Mestaz and Machuca were each being held on $1 million bail. The agency suggested more charges could be forthcoming.
Stanislaus County is located east of the San Francisco Bay area.
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