By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-19 18:41:43 | Updated at 2024-12-19 23:36:43
5 hours ago
A Las Vegas mother convicted of abusing her adopted children by locking them in rooms where they were forced to relieve themselves in buckets said 'I'm not a perfect parent' as she was sentenced to several years in prison on Wednesday.
Addy Gonzales claimed at her sentencing that she 'did what I could' for the two children, who were Gonzalez's niece and nephew and had been living in foster care.
Gonzales, her boyfriend Daniel Omezcua, and her mother Maria Pasarin were arrested in November 2022 after the female victim, now 20, was found drinking from a hose in the neighbor's yard and had asked for a ladder to climb back into her second-story bedroom, according to The Las Vegas Review-Journal.
When police arrived at the home, they found the girl in a room with a single sheet and two empty dressers. She told authorities she had been locked in the room for a year and felt like a prisoner.
The girl, who was not identified, and her brother were frequently locked in their rooms, which was secured by a deadbolt, according to The Review-Journal.
'I'm not a perfect parent, your honor, I did what I could for them,' Gonzales told a judge on Wednesday. 'I gave them a roof, I gave them food.'
The former Clark County School District employee also said she frequently went to church with the children, who were in foster care before she adopted them.
Gonzales was sentenced to nine to 24 years in prison for the abuse. She was led out of court in handcuffs.
The educator pleaded guilty in August to four counts of child abuse, neglect, or endangerment.
Addy Gonzales, a mother convicted of abusing her niece and nephew, claimed she 'did what I could' for the children - despite the victim calling it a 'nightmare'
Gonzales (pictured in blue) was sentenced to nine to 24 years in prison for abusing her niece and nephew for several years by locking them in rooms with buckets to relieve themselves in
Gonzales, her boyfriend Daniel Omezcua, and her mother Maria Pasarin were arrested in November 2022 after one of the victims (pictured), now 20, was found drinking from a hose in a neighbor's yard and asked for a ladder to climb into a second-story window
Pasarin pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuses and Omezcua pleaded guilty to a single count, according to The Review-Journal. The two were sentenced to probation.
The female victim also spoke at the sentencing on Wednesday, telling the judge: 'From the age of 10 until I turned 18, my life became a nightmare.'
'I still feel this weight of what Addy did to me,' she continued. 'I feel like I was robbed of a childhood, and now I'm being thrown into adulthood without the tools I need to survive.'
The young woman recalled her stepmother hitting her 'almost daily' and said she often withheld food from them as a punishment, according to The Las Vegas Review-Journal. She would also force them to clean the North Las Vegas house.
Pasarin used to sneak the children food and would occasionally allow them outside their rooms.
'Looking back, I know my grandma was part of the reason we survived,' she testified.
Her brother was not present in court on Wednesday.
The grandmother, who sat in a wheelchair in court, told the judge: 'I love those children very much.'
'And if I did something wrong with them, please forgive me, but I always treated them good,' she said.
Parasin pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuses and Omezcua pleaded guilty to a single count. The two were sentenced to probation
The victims spent years in foster care before being placed with their aunt in 2013. She formally adopted them in 2015, according to 8 News Now.
Gonzales said their mother suffered from substance abuse, domestic violence, and mental health issues, while their father had been in and out of prison and was deported twice.
The stepmother told the judge she had done a better parenting job than their children's biological parents.
Gonzales' own son was treated better than the victim, photos from the house showed, according to 8 News Now.
