New charges filed against father who allegedly tortured children

A Fairfield, Calif., father accused of torturing his children is facing an additional four counts of lewd acts upon a child, according to the Solano County district attorney’s office.

Jonathan Allen appeared before a judge Thursday after having already been charged with seven counts of torture and nine counts of felony child abuse or child endangerment. The court granted a motion to join the cases against Allen and Ina Rogers, who is also facing charges related to her 10 children.

An amended complaint specified that the lewd acts were committed with a child under the age of 14. The child, identified only by initials, disclosed the abuse in a forensic interview last week, according to court documents.

Allen and Rogers were arraigned on the amended complaint and both pleaded not guilty.

The 10 children came to the attention of Fairfield police after Rogers reported her 12-year-old son missing on March 31. The boy was found asleep under a bush in a neighbor’s yard.

Inside the home, officers found spoiled food, trash and feces strewn across the floors and clutter blocking the walkways. Nine children, ranging in age from 6 months to 11 years, were huddled together on the living room floor.

The children appeared to be skittish and spoke with speech impediments, according to a motion filed last week to increase Rogers’ bail.

The discovery triggered a six-week child abuse investigation that uncovered disturbing allegations. Authorities said that nine of the children had been tortured as far back as 2014.

Authorities say the children were continuously punched, strangled, bitten, shot with BB guns, hit with sticks and bats, subjected to “waterboarding� and splashed with scalding water, according to court documents. As a result of this abuse, the children bore scars and suffered other injuries, including broken bones, according to police.

The investigation showed that Rogers knew about the incidents, assisted with the abuse and failed to protect the children, according to court documents.

“The investigation has shown that the defendant dissuaded the children from reporting these incidents to medical personnel to protect her partner,� the motion to increase bail read.

Rogers was inititally charged with misdemeanor child endangerment, but last week the court granted a motion to add nine additional felony counts of child abuse or child endangerment.

Allen, who is the biological father of some of the children, denied the abuse in a jail interview earlier this month.

“I’m not 100% perfect, I’m not perfect, no one is perfect,� Allen said. “But I am not an animal, I’m not a torturer and I’m not a monster. I’m just not.�

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UPDATES:

1:45 p.m.: This article was updated with details of the abuse the children suffered.

This article was originally published at 12:30 p.m.