Investigators say surveillance footage and a search of the home backed an 11-year-old girl’s claims of long-term abuse.

SALIDA, Calif. — A Salida woman and her partner are accused of torturing the woman’s 11-year-old niece over about a year, forcing her to sleep in a backyard and an unfinished garage and dragging her with a dog leash, authorities said after filing 27 charges against each defendant.

The case matters now because investigators say it moved beyond one child’s account and into a prosecution supported by video, physical evidence and a broad list of felony charges. Prosecutors allege Priscilla Mestaz, 37, and Anthony Machuca, 36, abused the girl from January 2025 into January 2026 while she lived in their custody in Salida, an unincorporated community in Stanislaus County. The immediate stakes are severe: both defendants are jailed on $1 million bail, two younger children were removed from the home, and detectives say more charges may still be possible.

According to investigators, the case began on Jan. 31, 2026, when deputies were told an 11-year-old girl was refusing to return home because her aunt had been physically abusing her. Deputies and detectives with the sheriff’s special victims unit went to the residence and spoke with Mestaz and Machuca. As the inquiry widened, detectives said, they learned the girl had been staying with the couple since the summer of 2024. The abuse described by the child was not limited to one episode. Investigators say it stretched across at least a year and included strangulation, punching, slapping, threats and repeated punishment. The allegations, Sheriff’s Office officials said, pointed to “unsafe temperatures year-round” in areas where the child was made to stay and to abuse serious enough for detectives to seek a search warrant.

That search became a turning point. Investigators said they found surveillance cameras inside and outside the home and reviewed footage that matched the girl’s account. Detectives also reported finding evidence that she had been living primarily in the garage and backyard rather than in a proper bedroom. Authorities said the garage was not a converted living space. It had no bedding, no proper heating or air conditioning, and no insulation, leaving the child exposed in both winter and summer. Prosecutors further allege the girl was denied adequate nutrition and became malnourished. They say she was forced to do strenuous exercise until she was exhausted and was dragged with a dog leash. Officials have not publicly detailed every incident shown on the video or said how often the alleged acts occurred, but they have described the footage as corroboration rather than a mere lead still needing confirmation.

The alleged abuse, as laid out by authorities, built a picture of daily control as much as visible injury. Investigators say the child was threatened, verbally degraded and physically attacked while living under the authority of relatives who had custody of her. That context has shaped the unusually heavy charging decision. Among the counts named by authorities are torture, conspiracy to commit torture, child endangerment under circumstances likely to cause great bodily injury or death, inflicting injury on a child, assault with a deadly weapon, assault likely to produce great bodily injury and criminal threats. Officials have not said in court filings released to the public why the child began living with Mestaz and Machuca in 2024, and they have not publicly disclosed where the 11-year-old is now. They have also not said whether school staff, neighbors or other adults reported concerns before the girl refused to go back to the home.

The procedural path split early for the two defendants. Machuca was arrested when deputies first made contact at the house, authorities said. Mestaz was not immediately booked because investigators said she was in an advanced stage of pregnancy. After she gave birth, she was arrested on March 12. By March 16, prosecutors had filed a criminal complaint listing 27 felony and misdemeanor counts against each defendant. Both were then being held on $1 million bail. During the investigation, detectives also learned Mestaz worked as a child and family services case manager for a local organization, a detail that gave the case extra public weight because of the gap between her job and the allegations. Authorities also removed a newborn and a 4-year-old child from the home and placed them in protective custody through Stanislaus County Child Protective Services.

Even in a county that regularly sees serious child abuse prosecutions, the details described by investigators stand out because of the living conditions they say were imposed over time. The image that emerges from the sheriff’s account is not of a single outburst but of a routine: a child sleeping outside or in a bare garage, carrying out forced exercises, going without proper food, and facing threats if she resisted. Local television coverage emphasized the discovery of surveillance footage, while sheriff’s investigators publicly appealed for anyone with information about other possible abuse to come forward. Officials have not identified any additional victims, and no public hearing transcript was immediately available describing the defense response in detail. For now, the state’s case appears to rest on the child’s statements, evidence seized from the home and what investigators say the cameras recorded.

The case stood with both defendants jailed, the two younger children removed, and detectives still reviewing digital and physical evidence for possible additional charges. The next clear milestone is the defendants’ court process in Stanislaus County, where prosecutors are expected to continue outlining the evidence gathered after the Jan. 31 report.

Author note: Last updated April 9, 2026.