As punishment, 3 children left in desert without water

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif — A mother and her boyfriend were arrested on suspicion of felony child abuse after a passerby discovered her three children had been left in the desert as punishment, according the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Mary Bell, 34 and Gary Cassle, 29, of Twentynine Palms were being held Thursday at the Morongo Basin Jail in Joshua Tree, Calif., in lieu of $100,000 bail, and are scheduled to appear Friday in San Bernardino County Superior Court.

Around 11:30 a.m. PT Wednesday, deputies responded to a report of three children — a 7-year-old girl, a 6-year-old boy and a 5-year-old boy —  at the edge of Twentynine Palms. Bell and Cassle were "down the road from the children,"  sheriff's spokeswoman Cynthia Bachman said.

At the time, the temperature was just shy of 100 degrees. Wednesday's high temperature here was 104 degrees with no wind to help cool the area, according to the National Weather Service.

"The temperature was going up over the course of that hour," meteorologist Todd Lericos said.

The children had been in the desert for about 45 minutes without water and shoes.

During the investigation, officials determined that Bell was the mother of the three children and Cassle was Bell's boyfriend. They told police that they left the three children in the desert by themselves for disciplinary purposes.

Officials haven't determined why the children were being punished, but they did not need medical treatment after they were found.

All five were living in a truck, and the Bachman described the mother and her boyfriend as "local transients."

The incident was the second time in less than a month that the high-desert community was rocked by arrests involving child-abuse accusations.

On June 25, seven children were removed from a home that had no food, floors covered in water because of blocked plumbing and animal feces covering a bedroom floor where everyone slept. Large rats ran around the garage and roaches infested several parts of the home, sheriff's department officials said.

Parents Arsenio Jones, 26, and Daniel Reid, 31, were arrested on suspicion of child abuse and later pleaded not guilty to the accusations.

Those children were placed in the custody of San Bernardino County Children and Family Services. Sheriff's officials said they were in good health and did not require medical treatment.