Three children from San Antonio now have their entire lives in front of them after experiencing a horrific start.
Josiah and Naomi were found in their backyard in 2016, with chains around their ankles and wrists, after a neighbor heard them crying and called police, KSAT reported.
Their mother had given them to Deandre Dorch and his girlfriend, Porucha Phillips, to care for them while she was in California, KSAT reported.
Dorch was sentenced in May to four 65-year prison terms after he was found guilty of two counts of injury to a child by omission and two counts of child abandonment. Phillips pleaded guilty last year to two counts of injury to a child and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. The children's mother, Cheryl Reed, is awaiting trial, charged with two counts of injury to a child - serious bodily injury, My San Antonio reported.
Attorneys for the prosecution said Naomi was "lashed to a door with a dog leash like she's being crucified on it," KSAT reported during Dorch's sentencing.
They described Josiah saying he was chained to the ground "like he's some sort of rabid dog," KSAT reported.
Sheriff's deputies cried on the stand as they described how they found the children. Deputies said the children were chained so tightly they couldn't move, My San Antonio reported.
Earlier this week, Josiah, Naomi and their little brother, Matthew, were officially adopted by a family who cared for them.
"(Adoption is) amazing. I just really am honored to be able to do this for these children, to give them a safe place that they know they can lay their heads down and not worry about having the problems they had before," Allen Shaw, the children's adoptive father, told KSAT.
A family friend described how the children were when they first came to the Shaws, saying they were fearful and sad but now are happy.
"They are living the best life they ever lived, and I'm just glad they are able to be here and enjoy a moment like this," Danny Nealy told KSAT.
LaKenya Shaw told My San Antonio the children are enjoying their new home. "They are full of life, and are healing from their wounds," she said.
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