MONTEREY COUNTY, CA — Days after a 14-year-old sexual abuse victim at the center of the widely publicized "Baby Angelita" case was rescued in Mexico and her father arrested, prosecutors have charged the girl's mother with child endangerment and other offenses.
Ofelia Garcia Ortega was arrested Tuesday and faces two felony counts of possessing or displaying a forged identification card, along with misdemeanor charges of permitting a child to suffer or be endangered and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, the Monterey County District Attorney's Office said.
Baby Angelita was found dead Aug. 1 along the side of a roadway near an agricultural field. Investigators determined the baby's mother, a 14-year-old girl, had been sexually assaulted by her biological father, Sergio Galvez Perez, who prosecutors said is also the infant's father, according to prosecutors.
Perez has been charged with sexual assault offenses arising from his abuse of the girl, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Ortega put her daughter to work in agricultural fields when she was 13 using falsified documentation. Investigators also determined Ortega allowed the teenager to drive without a license and remain out of school for many months.
The case drew widespread attention after the Monterey County Sheriff's Office initially sought the arrest of the victim in connection with the infant's death. The District Attorney's Office later clarified that no charges had been filed against the teenager and said she was a victim of her father's abuse.
The sheriff's office had previously said the infant, whom investigators called "Baby Angelita," was found along Struve Road. A post-mortem examination found traumatic injuries and that the baby still had her umbilical cord attached, according to earlier reports.
An Amber Alert was later issued for the girl and Perez after investigators said they were missing. Surveillance footage showed the pair in a white Nissan Altima without license plates in the Salinas area, and the vehicle was later found in Northern California.
The girl was eventually rescued in Mexico, while Perez was arrested by Mexican authorities, according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Tina Nieto said detectives worked with the FBI and Mexican authorities to secure the teenager's safe rescue.
The investigation into the infant's death also examined Ortega's conduct toward her daughter.
Ortega is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
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