Ina Rogers says she and her husband are innocent.
A 30-year-old California woman whose 11 kids have been taken away by authorities alleging shocking abuse has come to her own defense.
"I am an amazing mother," Ina Rogers told reporters in the city of Fairfield, where she lived with the children, ages 4 months to 12 years, before one of them briefly disappeared in March, kicking off an abuse investigation.
Officers from the Fairfield Police Department responded March 31 to a report of a missing person. They eventually located the 12-year-old in the neighborhood and took him back home.
That's when police say they conducted a search "due to concerns for the safety and health of the child and the child’s siblings," police said in a statement.
They found "nine more children, ranging in age from 4 months to 11 years old, living in squalor and unsafe conditions," police said.
Those conditions reportedly included garbage on the floor, as well as human and animal feces. Rogers insisted at the time that her house was torn apart as she searched frantically for her missing 12-year-old.
Nonetheless, Rogers was arrested and booked into Solano County Jail for child neglect. All 10 children were taken into protective custody by Solano County Child Welfare Services.
Rogers has reportedly said she has a 14-year-old child who lives elsewhere.
As a result of an ongoing investigation that police say "revealed a long and continuous history of severe physical and emotional abuse of the children," Jonathan Allen, the father of some of the children, was arrested.
Some of the children had suffered burns and other wounds, according to Fairfield police Lt. Greg Hurlbut.
Allen has been charged with nine counts of felony torture and six counts of felony child abuse.
Still facing charges, but since released on $10,000 bail, Rogers defended herself and her husband to reporters on Monday.
"This is absolutely appalling," Rogers said. "I strive, I thrive on being a good parent to my children. My husband has a lot of tattoos. He looks like a scary individual, and that's why people are so quick to judge him. But my husband is an amazing person. I am an amazing mother."
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