Parents who police say forced their 6-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, to beat each other up so they could videotape the fight pleaded no contest Wednesday to abuse charges involving all four of their children.
Gary and Tealisa Downes of Warren, Mich., are accused in a juvenile court petition of physical and emotional abuse and failure to provide a healthy environment.
“The children will remain temporary wards of the court, and if the problems are not corrected in a reasonable amount of time (the court) could terminate parental rights,” a judge said.
Tealisa Downes is accused of forcing the 6-year-old boy to fight one of his older sisters and of disciplining the twins with a belt. The petition also accused both parents of maintaining an “unfit place” with only frozen foods and dirty beds with no sheets.
The juvenile court plea is separate from criminal charges of abuse and extortion the couple face. Those charges were filed after a relative discovered a videotape in which the couple’s twins beat each other as their parents allegedly egged them on.
Both remain jailed on a $250,000 bond each, pending a hearing Tuesday.
