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ELKINS -- New charges have been filed against a Randolph County couple accused of child abuse after a child in their care was allegedly found bound by zip ties in a bathroom.
Licha Faye Ortiz, 54, and Manuel Ortiz Jr., 69, of Beverly, are each charged with one count of child abuse creating risk of bodily injury and one count of conspiracy, both felonies. Each appeared separately in Randolph County Magistrate Court Monday for hearings. Manuel Ortiz did not have an attorney for his hearing, while Licha Ortiz was represented by attorney Les Mallow.
During both hearings, Assistant Randolph County Prosecutor Leckta Poling informed Randolph County Magistrate Michael Dyer that the state planned to drop the initial case against the Ortizs. Both were initially charged with one count of child abuse creating serious risk of bodily injury or death and one count of conspiracy, both felonies. Poling said the state would instead be charging them both with one count of child abuse creating risk of bodily injury and one count of conspiracy. Dyer dismissed the initial case against Manuel and Licha Ortiz and accepted the new charges against the two.
The couple was then arraigned separately on the new charges by Randolph County Magistrate Tracy Harper. Each of them had their separate bonds set at $150,000 cash-only, the same as their original bonds previously set by Dyer.
Poling informed the court that, due to Licha Ortiz having already posted bond, and because the facts of the case had not changed though the charges had, the state believed that her previous bond payment could be moved over to the new case. Dyer agreed to this so long as the person who paid Licha Ortiz’s bond consented to the money being used this way. Manuel Ortiz is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on the $150,000 cash-only bond.
According to the criminal complaint, filed by Trooper Andrew C. Jordan with the Elkins Detachment of the West Virginia State Police, on July 28, Jordan received a tip from Parole Officer Matt Currence in reference to a juvenile being "physically restrained with zip ties" at a residence on Schoonover Hollow Road in Beverly.
Currence was notified that a witness had been at the residence and observed the juvenile being restrained with their hands behind their back and their ankles also zip-tied, according to the complaint. Jordan received a recorded statement from the witness, who stated that she saw the juvenile restrained in the bathroom of a secondary residence, the garage where Licha and Manuel Ortiz reportedly live. She further stated that she noticed cracks in the bathroom door had been spray foamed over and that she allegedly heard Licha Ortiz talking to the juvenile through the crack in the door.
When the witness walked over to the door, she used a "pry bar" or "long screwdriver" to knock the spray foam off the cracks, the complaint states. She then was able to open the door and reportedly found the juvenile. The witness's friend made a comment to Manuel Ortiz about the child being restrained and Manuel Ortiz allegedly replied, "It makes you uncomfortable?" The witness also said the garage where the Ortizs live was in "messy condition."
On the same date, Jordan obtained a search warrant for the residence, the complaint states. Jordan, Sgt. V. Pyles, Trooper First Class J. Peteete and members of the Elkins Police Department then traveled to the residence and executed the warrant. Upon arrival, the officers were met by the Ortizs. During the search, officers reportedly observed large amounts of trash and other belongings scattered throughout the residence.
Jordan made contact with the juvenile, an 11-year-old, and allegedly observed ligature marks on the juvenile's wrists and ankles, the complaint states. The juvenile's feet also appeared to be swollen and red. Jordan then located the bathroom where the juvenile had allegedly been kept. There, he reportedly observed spray foam along the edge of the door frame which corroborated the witness' statement. Inside the bathroom, Jordan allegedly located a cut zip tie on the floor behind the toilet.
On the walls of the bathroom, Jordan reportedly found written "they love my brother but not me" and "no one on my side just me," the complaint states. He also found a camera on an end table facing the bathroom door. When he asked Licha Ortiz if the camera's storage was on her phone, she allegedly stated it was, but the camera was broken. Jordan seized the phone as evidence.