A man who claims he’s the biological father of a 7-year-old girl who was allegedly beat, tortured and starved by her female foster parent said on Thursday he’s sober and wants his daughter back.
Alan, whose last name is being withheld to protect his daughter, attended a preliminary hearing in Lancaster for Ingrid Brewer, 50. She faces charges in connection with abusing her two adopted children, who are brother and sister.
“My goal is to stay sober,” said Alan, 29, who lost custody of his daughter as he’s been in and out of custody, with his last stint in prison on a drug possession conviction in 2010. He said he’s been sober for 90 days. “Today I have a fulltime job. I’m working … I am being responsible … My thoughts are going crazy right now in my head.”
Brewer has pleaded not guilty to two counts each of child abuse, torture, assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury. Her preliminary hearing was continued to Feb. 19.
Authorities allege that Brewer abused children at her Palmdale home on multiple occasions since 2001. Two siblings were allegedly locked inside separate bedrooms for 12 hours at a time and were forced to use waste baskets in their rooms when they needed to relieve themselves, authorities said.
Brewer allegedly pulled their wrists behind their backs with zip-ties and sometimes used an electrical cord and a hammer on them as punishment, according to authorities. They were also deprived of food, sheriff's department officials said.
Brewer reported them missing on Jan. 15. Authorities found them hours later, huddled under a blanket, under a parked car, officials said. They told authorities they had run away from Brewer’s house to escape the abuse, officials said.
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The siblings have the same mother but different fathers, Alan said. Alan said he would like to adopt the 8-year-old boy.
