458 children rescued from abusive orphanage in Mexico

Mexico said on Tuesday it had rescued 458 children from a vermin-infested refuge for abandoned boys and girls, some of whom it says it believes to have been sexually abused.

The attorney general's office said authorities raided a home known as La Gran Familia (The Big Family) in the western city of Zamora, following at least 50 complaints about its operators from local residents.

The refuge in the state of Michoacán was run by Rosa Verduzco, who is now being questioned by authorities, government officials told a news conference.

The refuge was home to 278 boys, 174 girls and six infants, as well as 138 adults up to the age of 40, the government said.

Some complaints accused Verduzco of keeping children in the refuge against their will, said Tomás Zerón, director of the attorney general's criminal investigation unit.

The children had to beg for money on the streets, eat unsanitary food and sleep on the floor among bugs, the officials said. Some suffered sexual abuse, the government said.

Babies born in the refuge were registered as children of Verduzco, and their parents were given no say in their upbringing, Zerón added. One desperate parent even offered Verduzco $770 to return her young daughters, Zerón said.

La Gran Familia was founded in 1947 and looks after children abandoned by troubled parents, the refuge says on its Facebook page. It also provides schooling for the children. Its funding came from charitable donations, as well as companies and the government, it said.

No one could be reached at the refuge via a telephone number on the Facebook page.

Authorities are treating the children for psychological and sexual abuse as well as seeking out suitable homes for the victims, the government said.

Reuters