A California couple faces dozens of felony charges following an investigation into the treatment of an 11-year-old girl who was found living in an unheated garage and a backyard. Priscilla Mestaz, 37, and Anthony Machuca, 36, of Salida, are currently being held on $1 million bail each after a criminal complaint filed by the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office detailed a year of alleged physical and psychological torment.
The case broke open on January 31, 2026, when the young girl refused to return to the couple’s home, telling Stanislaus County Sheriff’s deputies that her aunt, Mestaz, was physically abusing her. Investigators quickly determined the child had been under the couple’s care since the summer of 2024.
Detectives with the Special Victims Unit executed search warrants at the residence, where they discovered interior and exterior surveillance cameras.
According to authorities, the footage corroborated the victim’s accounts of prolonged abuse. Investigators found the 11-year-old had been relegated to an unfinished garage that lacked insulation, bedding, and climate control, exposing her to extreme temperatures.
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The criminal complaint filed on Monday, March 16, paints a grim picture of the girl’s life between January 2025 and January 2026. The 27 counts against the pair include torture, conspiracy to commit torture, assault with a deadly weapon, and child endangerment.
Specific allegations include repeated strangulation, punching, and slapping. Prosecutors also allege the child was malnourished, forced into extreme physical exercise under threat of assault, and restrained and dragged with a dog leash.
Machuca was taken into custody during the initial response in January. Mestaz, however, was not arrested until March 12 due to her advanced stage of pregnancy. Following the birth of her child, she was booked into jail, and the newborn was placed into protective custody alongside a 4-year-old child who also lived in the home.
In a move that has shocked local advocates, investigators revealed that Mestaz worked as a child and family services case manager for a local organization while the alleged abuse occurred.
Both defendants remain in custody as detectives continue to sift through digital evidence to determine if additional charges are warranted.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information regarding the case to contact Detective Fuentes at (209) 525-7117.
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