The adoptive mother of six children whom Colorado Springs police suspect were locked in the basement so they wouldn’t leave or take food from the pantry faces charges of child abuse.
Samia Fam, 47, was served a summons Thursday on suspicion of six misdemeanor counts of child abuse and six counts of false imprisonment, police said. Her husband, William Fam, 59, was served a summons last week on suspicion of the same counts.
Four boys and two girls, ages 7 to 16, were taken into custody by the El Paso County Department of Human Services.
Police began investigating Nov. 16, after people at the school of one 14-year-old boy noticed he had scratches and bruises.
Investigators learned that the children had rooms in the finished basement, which has a bathroom and video cameras that the Fams used to monitor the rooms, police said.
Sgt. Howard Black said it appeared for at least several months the children were locked up overnight and sometimes on the weekends. Police were investigating whether anyone was locked up for more than 12 hours, which could raise the false imprisonment counts to a felony.
