Lesbian mothers arrested for abusing children

Police rescued three young children who showed signs of starvation and abuse from their home in Salinas. Their lesbian mothers, who lived together as domestic partners, are in custody. The oldest child, an 8-year-old girl, had been chained at times to keep her from getting food, looked like a concentration camp victim. The girl was hospitalized for four days and is now recuperating in a foster home. The other two children are boys ages 3 and 5, and they, too, were malnourished, bruised, and showed signs of emotional abuse. But the girl apparently bore the brunt of the abuse, with investigators saying that she was shackled at the ankle or by a collar at times, and may have been held in a closet. Eraca Craig, 31, and Christian Deanda, 44, are accused of felony child cruelty, false imprisonment, and other charges. They were scheduled to be married soon.