Inset, left to right: Dulce Crystal Bazan Castillo and Auturo Bazan-Perez (Oakland County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Oakland County Circuit Court (Google Maps).
A mother and father in Michigan are accused of nearly starving and torturing two of their young children nearly to death, keeping them in a locked bedroom and regularly inflicting military-style discipline on them.
Auturo Bazan-Perez, 43, and his wife, Dulce Crystal Bazan Castillo, 42, are each facing multiple counts of first-degree child abuse and child torture over their treatment of the victims, ages 9 and 11.
The couple’s adult son, 21-year-old Carlos Bazan Hernandez, is also facing abuse and torture charges.
According to a news release from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, hospital personnel on Nov. 17, 2025, notified deputies about a 9-year-old boy in their care who was “severely underweight” and covered with bruises.
When bringing the child to the hospital, his parents claimed he was suffering from some kind of “medical condition,” per the release.
By the time deputies arrived, the boy had been intubated and did not have a pulse. Due to the severity of his condition, the 9-year-old was airlifted to another hospital for specialized care.
While investigating the circumstances of the child’s hospitalization, investigators said they discovered his 11-year-old brother, who was similarly “severely emaciated,” living in the home. The older boy was immediately removed from his parents’ care by Child Protective Services and hospitalized.
Both victims had previously been enrolled in public school where authorities said they were receiving “at least two meals a day.” However, the parents unenrolled the children from school in September. Bazan-Perez allegedly told school officials that the family was “either moving back to Mexico or to another state.”
“After the boys no longer attended school, their diet consisted mainly of sporadic meals of rice,” the release stated. “The boys were not permitted to leave their bedroom. The windows were screwed shut and the window glass was painted so that the boys could not see outside.”
The 9-year-old victim weighed just 33 pounds and the 11-year-old weighed only 43 pounds, meaning they were only about half the weight of average boys their age.
Two other children living in the home, a 1-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl, appeared to be healthy and on a normal diet. They were also removed from their parents’ custody and termination proceedings commenced.
“We have another horrific child abuse case. The child-abuse cases we are seeing right now are nothing short of heartbreaking and enraging,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a statement. “No child should ever fall through the cracks like this. We will not rest until those responsible are held fully and unequivocally accountable.”
Court records show that Bazan-Perez and Castillo both declined their preliminary examination hearings and were bound over to circuit court. Their adult son, Hernandez, went through with his hearing to determine whether there is probable cause to proceed and several expert witnesses provided additional insight into the allegations.
During the hearing, prosecutors showed photographs of the 9-year-old victim to a doctor who said of the child, “He was emaciated — skin and bones,” Detroit Fox affiliate WJBK reported.
Prosecutors alleged that Hernandez regularly starved the kids and provided “military discipline,” forcing them to do pushups and jumping jacks, Detroit NBC affiliate WDIV reported.
Asked if a child in such emaciated states could reasonably perform such exercises, the doctor said they could not.
“No he absolutely could not,” the doctor reportedly testified. “It horrifies me to think he was asked to do that.”
A pediatrician reportedly told the court it was the worst case of neglect she had seen in more than 20 years.
“You could see every rib on both sides,” she said of the 9-year-old’s body. “You can see each individual vertebrae.”
All three defendants are currently being held without bond and are scheduled to return to court on March 12, records show.
