Suspect charged with horrific child abuse involving boy, 12, and girl, 14 in Bronx
BRONX, New York (WABC) -- A man was charged with horrific acts of child abuse against two children he may have kept locked in their Bronx apartment for months.
Michael Ramos, 34, was arrested Tuesday and was arraigned Wednesday on a laundry list of child abuse and weapons charges.
A resident called 911 on Monday after hearing crying that Ramos allegedly tried to cover up by blasting loud music.
The two children, a 12-year-old boy and his 14-year-old sister, were discovered in deplorable conditions at their Eastchester Gardens housing complex on Burke Avenue.
Prosecutors say the siblings were last allowed to leave the apartment in January, and in late March, they say Ramos started inflicting terrible abuse.
The 12-year-old was clearly beaten in the face and suffered a swollen eye and bruises all over his body. His 14-year-old sister also had bruises on her.
At the hospital, doctors discovered a pattern of injuries. They both appeared to be unnaturally skinny, indicating they were not regularly fed.
The children will be hospitalized for the foreseeable future and need "refeeding" as their bodies need to learn how to digest again.
The children told detectives they had not been let out of the apartment in months and were pistol-whipped with a gun and tied up with an electrical cord.
Ramos' mother served as the children's guardian, but he took over when she died in December.
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