5-YEAR ORDEAL : Scarred Girl, 14, Believed Abused, Held Captive by Sister

Neighbors in the working-class area of Hacienda Heights where Martha Martinez lived said they always wondered why the quiet, skinny girl with scraggly brown hair was out each morning pulling weeds or mowing the lawn of her sister’s house instead of heading for school.

On Friday, they got some answers. Authorities allege that Martha was the victim of five years of child abuse by her sister, Suzanne Perez, who confined the 14-year-old girl to a garage much of the time, beat her and never allowed her to attend school.

Perez, 33, was arrested Thursday night. She was charged Friday by the district attorney’s office with felony child abuse, child endangering and two counts of assault.

Perez, who worked as a cleaning woman, was being held at the City of Industry sheriff’s station in lieu of $50,000 bail and will be arraigned next week in Pomona Municipal Court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Patricia Shrader said.

Martha was placed in protective custody, and a temporary home is being sought for her, authorities said.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Leroy Chastain said that when deputies found the teen-ager on Thursday, she had a disfigured ear and other scars, apparently the result of beatings. She also was malnourished, he said.

Martha reportedly lived in the garage of a modest, 1960s white stucco house in the 15000 block of Shadybend Drive with her sister’s family, including Perez’s common-law husband, Hector Guzman, 46, and Perez’s two sons. The teen-ager accompanied Perez to help clean houses but did not attend school and is illiterate, Chastain said.

“It didn’t look like she ever went to school,” said a neighbor who asked that her name not be used but said that she regularly baby-sat for one of Perez’s sons. “She was only spoken to when they wanted her to do something. It bothered me the way she looked, the way she had scratches and bruises on her.”

Residents who live nearby said that the door to the garage often was left open and that they were not aware that the girl was living there. They said they never saw Martha being beaten.

Next-door neighbors Steve and Leza Nazaroff said, however, they frequently heard Perez berating the girl in Spanish.

Martha reportedly came from Mexico City to live with Perez when their parents died about five years ago, neighbors said. Before moving to Hacienda Heights about a year ago, the family lived in El Monte, where Martha was also confined under similar circumstances and abused, Chastain said.

Told Child

Sheriff’s deputies said they became aware of the situation after Martha told another child about it. The other youngster informed an adult, who in turn notified authorities, Chastain said.

“When we’re talking about a young lady deprived of food and physically abused, who knows what the psychological damage will be?” Chastain asked. “When you talk about the medical treatment she didn’t have and the love she should have had from family, you’re talking about an extremely serious situation.”

Chastain said Perez’s two sons, Alex, 18 months old, and Hector, 14, also were taken into protective custody.