PLACENTIA, Calif., June 15 (UPI) -- Prosecutors said they would arraign a Southern California couple on charges they systematically tortured a 5-year-old boy for three months.
Carmen Iacullo, 33, and his girlfriend, Lori Pincus, 39, both of Placentia, were accused of keeping the boy out of school and hidden from neighbors so the various bruises, cigarette burns and other injuries would not be seen.
Iacullo was charged this week with felony child abuse and torture for allegedly violently attacking the boy repeatedly during a weeklong period this month. Pincus was charged with allowing the conduct to go on and helping conceal the alleged abuse from outsiders.
Pincus allegedly once made the boy hide under a bed when Santa Ana police showed up at the home after arresting Iacullo for possession of drug paraphernalia, Orange County prosecutors said Wednesday in a written statement.
The alleged victim was described only as a relative of Pincus. He was placed in protective custody June 9 after he got out of the house while Pincus was visiting Iacullo in jail. A neighbor saw the battered youngster in the street and called police.
The statement said Iacullo faced sentencing enhancements if convicted due to a prior child-abuse conviction in 2002.
