A Palmdale woman who was previously sentenced to seven years to life in prison for torturing her two adopted children is named in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the boy and girl.
Ingrid Brewer, 54, pleaded no contest in December 2014 to a pair of torture counts involving the minors, who were 7 and 8 years old at the time of the abuse. She was sentenced in March 2015. The children are now aged 11 and 12.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies found the children hiding under a blanket near a parked vehicle on a street near their home after Brewer reported them missing on Jan. 15, 2013. The temperature outside at the time was 25 degrees, according to the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, which also names as defendants Los Angeles County, four social workers and the foster family agency Aspiranet, which allegedly recruited Brewer to be a foster parent.
The suit’s allegations include civil rights violations, negligence and intentional misconduct. The complaint seeks unspecified damages.
A spokesman for Los Angeles County did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The suit states that Brewer beat the two children with electrical cords and tied their hands behind their backs. She refused to let them use a bathroom and forced them to urinate and defecate in a bucket, the suit states.
The youngsters were forced to sleep on the floor and were fed one bowl of oatmeal a day, according to the lawsuit, which says Brewer “locked up each child for 12 hours three times a week.”
Brewer said she would kill the children if they told anyone what happened, according to the lawsuit.
