SAN ANTONIO -- Tim Archuleta, 42, was arrested Thursday afternoon on charges of serious bodily injury to his three adoptive children. The children, an 8-year-old boy and two 10-year-old twins were adopted by Tim Archuleta and his wife, Iliana back in February of 2011.
Iliana Archuleta, 40, and her nephew Rogelio Archuleta, 26, were arrested last month in the case. Iliana owns the Honey Tree Preschool and Child Development Center.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, one of the children told investigators that Iliana and Rogelio beat and starved all three of them. They also said the pair forced the children to bite each other and eat whole sticks of butter. The warrant also stated the children were allegedly forced to sleep in a bathtub or in a locked closet. According to the warrant, one of the children told investigators Tim would hit them on the buttocks with a backscratcher. The document also states the adoptive father knew the children were eating butter sticks, because one child told police, "he would watch us."
"Whenever you have not only a parent or adult in that home, and they're witnessing these kinds of things, they need to put a stop to it immediately," said Lou Antu, spokesman with the Bexar County Sheriff's Department. "He apparently did nothing of it."
All three adoptive children remain in state custody.
