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SEALY -- A Texas couple was arrested after a state inspector found a half-dozen children locked and unsupervised in a tool shed behind an unlicensed day care center, authorities said.
State officials said the children were surrounded by lawn equipment, gasoline and insecticide when they were found Wednesday morning. The children had not been injured.
A child welfare inspector had gone to the home in response to a complaint that an illegal day care center was being operated there.
In all, there were 14 children, ranging in age from 3 months to 5 years, being cared for by the couple, Child Protective Services spokeswoman Gwen Carter said Thursday. They legally could care for only three children, she said.
Police found the remaining children hidden in the house and at another residence next door.
Austin County District Attorney Travis Koehn said Marietta Patek, 55, was charged with six counts of child endangerment. Her husband, Freddie Patek, 65, faced an evidence-tampering charge.
Bail was set at $10,000 for each. They had no attorney of record to comment on their behalf, jail officials said Thursday.
Paramedics examined all the children and found that they were physically unharmed. Parents were summoned to pick them up.
"They're the sweetest people," a neighbor, Christalynn Bell, told Houston television station KRIV. "They always think about the children first. That's why right now, it's totally mind-boggling."
The case remains under investigation by police and child welfare authorities.
