Minnesota Woman Accused of Tying Boys to Basement Pole

HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) _ A Minnesota woman faces felony charges for allegedly punishing her grandnephew and his brother by tying them to a pole in her basement.

Fifty-three-year-old Flor Estella Gallegos of South St. Paul is charged with false imprisonment of a child and malicious punishment of a child in Dakota County in 2017.

The criminal complaint accuses Gallegos of withholding food, striking them and binding them to a pole or furniture overnight.

One of the boys told investigators last year he and his brother had gone without food for nearly a week.

A petition terminating Gallegos' parental rights was filed earlier this month.
Court records did not list an attorney for Gallegos, and no telephone listing could be found for her.

Her first court appearance is March 19.