A 30-year-old Coral Springs woman beat two of her young children and forced them to kneel for up to eight hours as punishment, police said.
Jessiezaibeth Fuentes-Ruiz surrendered herself Wednesday for an incident that allegedly happened in October, but this was not the first time she has faced allegations of hurting her children.
“This is the fifth time Ms. Fuentes-Ruiz has been investigated by Child Protective Services for abusing her children,” Assistant State Attorney Eric Linder told Broward Judge Jackie Powell during a court appearance on Thursday.
“Previous investigations were conducted in 2007, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018,” he said.
Police said the October incident involved Fuentes-Ruiz grabbing her daughter’s hair and pulling her off the top of a bunk bed to the floor about five feet below, then slapping and punching her head because she didn’t know where her brother’s library book was. The brother was grabbed by his ears and slapped, investigators said.
The brother told police Fuentes-Ruiz made him and his sister kneel on the floor from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. as a punishment in late September, a Coral Springs police arrest report said.
“We believe these allegations are false,” said defense attorney Jose Castaneda, in court. “These are all alleged acts prior to the dependency case. There’s been nothing since that and, again, she turned herself in.”
The children have been in the custody of an uncle since October with supervised visits and family counseling, investigators said.
Fuentes-Ruiz is facing two counts of aggravated child abuse and remained jailed Friday afternoon on bonds totaling $20,000. When she bonds of out jail, she must wear a GPS ankle monitor and has been ordered to have no contact with the two children.
wkroustan@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4303 or Twitter @WayneRoustan
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