Three California adults arrested after a teenage boy enters a store, hands bound, and without clothing

Content warning: This article describes child abuse. Please take care while reading.

A scary scene played out at a Ceres, CA grocery store recently when a 15-year-old boy rushed into the store with his wrists bound, badly bruised, and without clothing. Three adults — the boy’s mother and grandmother, and his grandmother’s husband — were arrested and charged with child abuse and neglect.

According to KCRA, the incident happened at a Cost Less Foods grocery store in Ceres, just outside Modesto. A 15-year-old boy, who has autism, entered a grocery store “bound at the wrists” and without clothing.  He also appeared to have been bound at the ankles and had visible injuries. Reports say the boy was nonverbal and not communicating.

“I could hear people gasp”

Rebecca Renard, a Cost Less clerk who was there that day later said, “I could hear people gasp like, you know, like a sound of shock. And I turned. And when I did, the young gentleman was coming across the front end with no clothes on.”

Store Manager Dave Avila remembered thinking, “This kid is in trouble and we need to get him help.” Avila estimated he had as many as 100 bruises all over his body.

Avila continued, “Once he was calmed down, we got him a raincoat to cover himself up. Meanwhile, I was on the phone to the PD while all this was going on. [Store employees] just kept telling him everything is going to be okay and kept patting him,” Avila added.

Police responded to reports of a “nude male running near Hatch Road and Richland Avenue,” in Ceres.  They found the teen in the Cost Less grocery store. Emergency medical aid was provided, and the boy was taken to a hospital.

Another young girl was also rescued from her home

A welfare check at the boy’s home revealed an unharmed 12-year-old girl, possibly his sister and also autistic, living in “poor conditions” with “feces and urine throughout.” Ceres Police Officer Jeff Godfrey described “strong odors” inside the home, and said officers found “health hazards that nobody should be living in.”

While police were still at the store, Leandra Renteria, 36, a woman claiming to be the boy’s mother arrived, and was arrested. The boy’s grandmother and her husband — Gary Dean Wilson, 58, and Lenore Wilson, 54 — who were both at the home with the 12-year-old girl were also taken into custody.

Cost Less Store Director Del Ambris later said, referring to the boy, “Rather than dwell on what happened to this kid, let’s look at what’s going to happen to this kid. The bad part of his life, hopefully, now is changing,” The Modesto Bee reported.

Reports say all three adults were released from police custody on Thursday, March 27th. The two children have been removed from the home and placed under the care of Child Protective Services. The investigation is ongoing.