Inset: Ofelia Garcia Ortega (Monterey County Sheriff's Office). Background: The area where the body of "Baby Angelita" was found (KABC).
A 36-year-old California mother is accused of endangering her 14-year-old daughter, who was allegedly impregnated by her own father before the girl's newborn was found dead along a Monterey County roadway.
Ofelia Garcia Ortega was arrested Tuesday and charged with two felony counts of displaying or possessing a forged identification card, one count of child endangerment and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, authorities announced.
According to a press release from the Monterey County Sheriff's Office, the arrest stems from the case of "Baby Angelita," whose body, bearing signs of traumatic injuries, was found abandoned beside Struve Road near an agricultural field on Aug. 1.
While Ortega has not been charged with causing her infant grandson's death, authorities said the infanticide investigation led them to scrutinize Ortega's broader treatment of her daughter.
"Investigators determined that Ortega put Jane Doe to work in agricultural fields at age 13 using falsified documentation," the sheriff's office said in the release. "Ortega also allowed Jane Doe to drive without a license and allowed her to completely remain out of school for many months."
Prosecutors allege that Jane Doe was sexually abused by her biological father, 38-year-old Sergio Galvez Perez, who is accused of fathering her baby and is also Ortega's husband.
The teenager was recently found in Mexico with Galvez Perez after Monterey County sheriff's detectives worked with the FBI and Mexican authorities to locate them.
"[Jane Doe] is safe and is currently in the care of local authorities in Mexico," Sheriff Tina Nieto said after Mexican authorities rescued the girl. "During the rescue operation, Sergio Galvez Perez was arrested after he was found in possession of narcotics."
Galvez Perez is charged in Monterey County with counts of committing a lewd act upon a child resulting in great bodily injury, incest and child abuse stemming from allegations that he sexually abused his daughter. The child-abuse complaint accuses him of causing his daughter to suffer "unjustifiable physical pain and mental suffering" and placing her in a situation that endangered her health, Salinas-area station KSBW reported.
Ortega had previously been arrested Aug. 4 on suspicion of child endangerment, but was released after posting $50,000 bail that same day, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Sheriff's detectives arrested Ortega without incident Tuesday, serving an arrest warrant at the Salinas Superior Courthouse. She was again booked into the Monterey County Jail, this time on an enhanced bail of $150,000. Ortega is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.