Jury convicts Salinas women of torture, child abuse

A jury has convicted two Salinas women of torture and child abuse in a case that the Monterey County DA called the worst case of child abuse ever seen in the county.

The women were arrested in March of 2014 in a house they lived in with three children off Russell Road in north Salinas.

Christian Deanda was found guilty of torture, and Eraca Craig was found guilty of child abuse in a Salinas courtroom Friday afternoon.

Deanda was found guilty on 16 charges including a torture charge.

The following is a list of other charges the jury convicted her of:

1 count of torture.

1 count of child abuse causing great bodily injury.

11 counts of child abuse including beating, biting and holding a child’s head under a bath tub faucet.

3 counts of false imprisonment including chaining a child to the floor.

Eraca Craig was found not guilty of the torture charge, but was found guilty of 6 charges including:

1 count of child abuse with great bodily injury.

3 counts of false imprisonment.

2 counts of child endangerment.

Prosecutors say the women committed some horrific crimes. Some include starving, chaining one of them to a wall, holding her head under a faucet and keeping her outside in the cold. The kids are now on the long road to recovery.

“They’ve done an amazing job,” Prosecutor Sarah Ma said. “They’re amazing children. They’re doing incredibly well. They’ve got a wonderful foster family
supporting them with wonderful foster parents and foster siblings.”

The children’s foster parents were at the verdict hearing. They say they are pleased, and hope to adopt the older two children.

Deanda faces 7 years to life in prison for the torture charge, plus 15 year and 8 months for child abuse and false imprisonment.

Craig faces a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison.