San Antonio Standard

EL PASO, Texas – An El Paso couple has been arrested on charges detailed in a four-count federal indictment related to alleged child abuse.

According to court documents, Cecilia Stepaniak, 34, and Coreydon Stepaniak, 34, allegedly engaged in conduct from April 2019 to February 2024 that placed a child under the age of 15 in imminent danger of death, bodily injury, and physical or mental impairment. The indictment outlines acts including falsely reporting to a medical care provider that the minor victim was removed from school for bullying elementary school children; dangerously restricting the minor’s food intake; hitting the minor victim with a cell phone charging cable; holding a sharp kitchen knife to the minor victim’s throat; kicking the minor victim while on the ground; locking the minor victim in a dark closet; confining the minor victim to the garage of their Fort Bliss residence; and forcing the minor victim to perform calisthenics exercises multiple times a day for extended periods.

Both defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit injury to a child, one count of injury to a child, one count of child endangerment, and one count of child abandonment. If convicted, they each face up to five years in prison for the conspiracy charge; between 180 days and two years for the injury-to-a-child charge; and between two years and 20 years for both endangerment and abandonment charges. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas made this announcement. The FBI and Department of Army Criminal Investigation Division are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nallely Barbosa and Debra Kanof are prosecuting.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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