10 children allegedly tortured in Fairfield home; mother denies abuse

In booking mugs released Monday, May 14, 2018, by the Solano County Sheriff's Office are Jonathan Allen, left, and Ina Rogers. Police said Monday they had removed 10 children from a squalid California home and charged their father with torture and their mother with neglect after an investigation revealed a lengthy period of severe physical and emotional abuse. The children range from 4 months to 12 years old, said Fairfield police Lt. Greg Hurlbut. Allen, 29, faces felony charges of torture and child abuse and the 30-year-old Rogers faces child neglect charges. She was arrested March 31 and released after posting $10,000 bail. less In booking mugs released Monday, May 14, 2018, by the Solano County Sheriff's Office are Jonathan Allen, left, and Ina Rogers. Police said Monday they had removed 10 children from a squalid California home and ... more Photo: Solano County Sheriff's Office Via AP Photo: Solano County Sheriff's Office Via AP Image 1 of / 43 Caption Close 10 children allegedly tortured in Fairfield home; mother denies abuse 1 / 43 Back to Gallery

On the outside it looked like a normal home, nestled on a tree-lined cul-de-sac in the North Bay city of Fairfield.

But when investigators opened the screen door of the house on Fieldstone Court, they were horrified — 10 children had lived for years amid piles of spoiled food and feces, allegedly burned and shot with BB guns, officials said.

The case rattled a normally quiet suburb in Solano County and prompted a fierce defense from the children’s mother, who insisted Monday that she and her husband had done nothing wrong.

Authorities first encountered the family March 31, when Ina Rogers, 30, reported her 12-year-old son missing, according to the Fairfield Police Department. The boy was found asleep under a bush in a nearby yard.

Responding officers searched the home because of concerns for the child’s welfare and found nine more children between 4 months and 11 years old living in conditions police described as squalid and unsafe.

Behind the cream siding and the mulch garden dotted with Buddha statues, authorities say they found urine-stained floors, human and animal feces, and debris stacked so high it made areas of the house impassable.

Rogers was subsequently arrested and booked into Solano County Jail on suspicion of child neglect, and all 10 children were taken to live with extended family members by Solano County Child Welfare Services. Rogers was released after posting $10,000 bail, according to county court records.

An investigation led police to find a “long and continuous history of severe physical and emotional abuse of the children,” officials said.

The father, 29-year-old Jonathan Allen, was arrested Friday and booked into jail on seven counts of torture and nine counts of child abuse. He is being held on $5.2 million bail and is due back in court May 24.

Speaking to reporters Monday afternoon, Fairfield police Lt. Greg Hurlbut said the children had suffered puncture wounds, burns and injuries consistent with being shot with a pellet gun or BB gun.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Sharon Henry said she was “horrified” by the children’s statements, which detailed “sadistic” abuse and torture dating back to 2014.

Earlier on Monday, Rogers defended herself in front of news cameras. She said her 12-year-old son had run away as an act of rebellion and that police had found her home in disarray because she had been frantically searching for him. The boy was gone for a few hours, Hurlbut said.

“The conditions they saw in my home was me tearing up my house, because my son was missing,” Rogers said. “I was afraid that I could not find him. You know, once that fear sets in, you don’t know what to do.”

She described herself as an “amazing mother” and heaped praise on her husband, saying that Allen has been unfairly vilified.

“My husband has a lot of tattoos. He looks like a scary individual, and that’s why people are so quick to judge him,” Rogers said, insisting she would fight the accusations.

“I’m not going to allow this to break us, and I’m not going to stop fighting,” she said.

Neighbors said they had no idea so many children were living in the house, where they were home-schooled and mostly kept out of sight.

The couple moved in about a year ago, according to Larry Magney, who lives across the street.

Magney said he didn’t know the couple had any children until Rogers approached him about her missing son as he was coming home from church.

Magney recalled her asking, “Is there a way I can check your backyard, because my son is … missing or ran away?”

He replied that it was unlikely the boy was in his backyard, because his dog would have barked.

“She was pretty concerned, and she was like, you know, running around the neighborhood,” Magney said, adding that he was “shocked” to hear there were 10 kids living in the house.

“I walk my dog at least twice a day, and my wife works out of our house,” he said. “If there’s any activity here, we would kind of know.”

Tawnya Roth, a next-door neighbor, said she was under the impression the couple had only three children. She noted that they had a baby when they first moved in and another baby late last year.

“My daughter was saying that when she was home at Christmastime, she saw some kids out there,” Roth said. “And when they first moved in, we heard kids playing out in the backyard late at night. But that was really the only time. Once in a while we’d see a kid, but I didn’t even know that they were theirs.”

Roth said she didn’t see her neighbors often, but they were always polite on the few occasions they spoke.

Annie Ma, Megan Cassidy and Rachel Swan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: ama@sfchronicle.com, megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com, rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @anniema15 @meganrcassidy @rachelswan