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Security footage captured the fatal beating of a 13-year-old boy last Sunday night into Monday morning, per police, as well as efforts by the family's children to clean up blood throughout the house.
A young teen is dead and his foster parents have been arrested after surveillance footage capture deverything that happened, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
The deceased 13-year-old's foster father, Cesar Delgadillo, 39, was arrested last Monday in Drums after police were called to the family's home on a stabbing investigation, per Fox affiliate WOLF. There, they found the unidentified teen covered in "marks and lacerations," per ABC affiliate WNEP. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
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View StoryOn Monday, Pennsylvania State Police charged Delgadillo with criminal homicide, child endangerment, evidence tampering, and obstruction in relation to the death of his foster son. His wife, Virginia Delgadillo, 34 told police that the couple share one biological son and foster five children. The 13-year-old was one of those fostered.
According to Virginia, the teen's alleged beating started late Sunday night after two of the younger foster children told her that he had sexually assaulted them, per arrest affidavits filed Tuesday and reviewed by PBS affiliate WVIA.
The affidavit says Virginia watched the alleged beating of the boy at the hands of her husband in the family garage, but did nothing to intervene or stop him. She was charged with allowing the abuse of the deceased teen, as well as the four other foster children in their custody, four counts of corruption of minors, and one count of tampering with physical evidence. Her charges came one day after Cesar's were filed.
According to the arrest affidavit, security footage from inside the home captured much of what allegedly occurred, including Virginia standing by and observing as the boy was beaten. Per the footage, which was detailed in the court documents, Virginia went to bed as the beating continued into the morning hours on Monday.
Cameras allegedly captured Cesar, who had reportedly been drinking throughout that evening, punching the boy in the face, jamming what was described in the affidavit as a "stick-like object" -- identified as a back scratcher by WVIA -- into his mouth and down his throat, and also beating him repeatedly with it. He was also whipped with an electrical cord, per the affidavit.
Surveillance video also reportedly showed several of the other five children attempting to clean up the blood throughout the house. "The video captures large amounts of blood being deposited on the floor during the assaults," the affidavit reads, per WNEP. "Some of the children who reside in the residence were observed actively cleaning blood from the floor."
According to WNEP's coverage, Virginia was awakened on Monday morning by one of the other children, who informed her that something was wrong with the teen. She went down to his basement bedroom, according to the affidavit, where she found him beaten, bloodied, and unresponsive with a laceration down the center of his chest, per authorities.
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View Story"I'm sorry," Cesar told her, per the affidavit, as Virginia called 911. The teen was dead an hour after state police arrived.
Police stated in their documentation that Cesar "caused multiple serious injuries to the victim's head, chest, back and hands over the course of several hours, not allowing the victim to leave."
In their investigation of the home, police reported finding blood spatter across the living room, on the kitchen floors and counter, around a bathroom tub, on the basement door, and on the victim's bedroom floor and wall. They further recovered bloody clothing that was consistent with the victim's lacerations, per the report, and detected a strong smell of bleach throughout the home.
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View StoryWVIA notes that police also observed the other four children, ranging in age from 5 to 16 years old, had "various stages of bruising and injuries to their bodies," similar to the deceased teen's. Police determined the children had all been beaten "over an extended period of time" with an electrical cord, back scratcher, and a rubber hammer.
Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo told the outlet that "the children are now in the custody of Luzerne County CYF [Children, Youth and Families]. They are in a safe location."
Cesar and Virginia Delgadillo are both being held at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility without bail. Their preliminary hearings are scheduled for August 14.
If you are experiencing or witness child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 911.
The National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline -- 800.656.HOPE (4673) -- provides free, 24/7 support for those in need.