At abuse trial, girl says father forced her to eat insects

Posted: Wednesday, December 2, 2009 6:30 pm

A teenager whose parents are accused of routinely beating her testified that she was starved at home, forced to eat insects and was once ordered by her father to eat a dead mouse.

The girl, now 15, testified at the child abuse trial of her father, Porfirio Olivas, both from the witness stand Wednesday and in video recordings taken in October 2008 at Safe Harbor, a local agency that helps law enforcement interview children who have been the victims of physical and sexual abuse.

The girl's horror stories about living at her parents' town of Madison apartment were backed by the testimony Wednesday of her mother, Minerva Lopez, 33, who pleaded no contest last month to six counts of child abuse.

The girl described how her father made her eat cockroaches and a spider and forced her to eat a mouse that was caught in a trap. Although she first told authorities she ate the mouse, she later said she only told her parents that she had eaten it to avoid punishment, but actually hid it when nobody was looking.

Olivas, 39, is likely to testify Thursday, said his attorney, Ron Benavides. Olivas is charged with 23 counts of various forms of child abuse and one count of second-degree sexual assault.

The girl also recalled how her father forced her naked into a large plastic bag that he then duct-taped to her waist. Her head and torso were covered with another bag that was also taped down. When the girl chewed through the bag for air, she said, her father put tape over her mouth and nose. He said he was going to throw her into a lake.

The girl said she fought for air and managed to free herself from the bags.

She also said her father strangled her at least twice, one time lifting her off the floor by her neck. The girl and her mother also recounted how Olivas once threw the girl's 3-year-old brother against a table, breaking his leg. The injury was explained to doctors as having happened while he played, both testified.