CEDAR PARK, Texas — Officials have arrested two parents accused of keeping their two children, five- and six-year-old girls, nonverbal and in "deplorable" conditions.
Police said Mia Young was arrested during the afternoon of Thursday, Nov. 1. She faces two charges of injury to a child causing serious mental deficiency or impairment. The children's biological father, Aria Young, who is accused of the same crimes as Mia Young, was arrested on Nov. 8.
Police said it is believed the biological father, previously known as Jacob Mark O'Donnell, now identifies as a woman.
Cedar Park police said she was taken into custody Thursday at 11 a.m. by the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force. She was booked in the Williamson County jail on two charges of injury to a child causing serious mental deficiency or impairment, a first-degree felony.
Officials first responded to the case on May 17 after receiving an intake report from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. The report indicated that the children were believed to be victims of ongoing abuse.
Cedar Park police responded to their apartment on Lakeline Boulevard. There, officials spoke with Mia Young. Police said they saw two girls inside the apartment and that the mother wanted to gather a few items inside the residence she shared with Aria and the two children.
After interacting with the girls, police said they could not verbally respond to questions, such as their names and how old they were. Officials reported the girls appeared to communicate with each other using their own language made up of various sounds.
Police reports state that the mother advised that her daughters did not suffer from any type of disability and that they could not speak because they were never taught to do so by herself or her husband. She also reported that neither child ever received any type of formal education. She was unable to provide any information on when either had seen a physician, police said, other than some time when they were in California.
Later, on May 29, police located both children in the care of their mother. Police said the five-year-old was unable to communicate and appeared underweight, was wearing soiled clothing, her body was dirty and her hair was matted.
During an interview with the DFPS, officials spoke with both parents, both English-speaking people born in the U.S. Officials said they reported they had been the girls' caregivers since their birth.
The DFPS said the parents do not have any history with them or the CPS. The children are now in CPS custody.
From May to August, police said at least one of the girls completed speech therapy evaluations. Based on the evaluation, she was able to speak 16 words and suffers from severe impairment in both receptive language and expressive language skills, and exhibits difficulty understanding others, following directions, or expressing needs in a manner others can understand, especially in the case of injury, abuse or emergency.