St. Paul Couple Charged With Child Torture: Police

ST. PAUL, MN — A couple from St. Paul has been charged in connection to the abuse of two toddlers, according to police.

Jamie Wilson and Diego Caldaza-Russette, both 19, were charged in Ramsey County with two counts each of child torture last week. The children are Wilson’s niece and nephew who were staying with her for a few days, police said.

Caldaza-Russette is Wilson's boyfriend, the criminal complaint states.

A doctor at Midwest Children’s Resource Center said it was the worst case of abuse he had seen in over 20 years, according to police.

If convicted, the two each face up to 25 years in prison and a $35,000 fine.

On Sept. 21, an ambulance responded to the 400 block of Hershel Street in St. Paul on a report of a 2-year-old boy who reportedly fell down a flight of stairs, according to the criminal complaint.

The boy lost consciousness at one point, and Wilson — while in the ambulance — initially refused to let medics cut the child's clothes off to evaluate him, authorities said.

Medics noted Wilson’s strange behavior, and police were called to the hospital when an evaluation showed bruises all over the boy’s body, along with markings apparently from cigarette burns, according to the criminal complaint.

At Gillette Children’s Hospital, the boy was diagnosed with a fractured occipital bone in his skull and brain bleeds, including a newer one and an older one, authorities said.

Police later learned that there was another child who had been in Wilson’s care, a 5-year-old girl who "had injuries on nearly every part of her body," the criminal complaint states.

"Her injuries are not consistent with routine accidental trauma," the criminal complaint continued. She "was struck with objects and likely burned with a cigarette."

A child protection worker asked the girl about her injuries, and she said they were from Calzada-Russette, the criminal complaint states.

Investigators interviewed Wilson several times, and at one point told her that her story did not make sense, according to police.

Eventually, Caldaza-Russette admitted to hitting the kids and leaving bruises for things like making messes and spilling water, investigators said. Calzada-Russette said that Wilson burned the kids with a lighter and cigarettes, according to the criminal complaint.