SAN ANTONIO – A manhunt is on Friday for a man suspected of abusing two young children found chained in a backyard.
An arrest warrant was issued late Thursday for Deandre Dorch, 36, the father of several children found unattended at a home in the 8100 block of Chipping on April 29.
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Dorch is accused of injury to a child by omission, Bexar County Sheriff's Office spokesman James Keith said.
Dorch and his wife, Porucha Phillips, were responsible for the care of the two toddlers discovered in the backyard, Keith said. One child was chained to the ground. The other child was tied to a door with a dog leash.
Keith said that it appears Dorch may have threatened the children's mother, Cheryl Reed, with extortion after she left the state.
Reed was arrested Thursday night at a motel off Interstate 10 and Vance Jackson Road without incident. Reed was charged with two counts of injury to a child with bodily injury.
Investigators have yet to determine who chained and tied up the children, Keith said.
Dorch admitted that he failed to get care for the two children after seeing Reed whip them with a switch from a tree on multiple occasions between November and February, Keith said. He told investigators that it wasn't his place to report child abuse because he's not a "snitch" and he's not "God."
Anyone with information on Dorch's whereabouts is asked to call the BCSO Tip Line at 210-335-TIPS (8477).
Phillips remains in the Bexar County Jail. He was charged with injury to a child by omission with serious bodily injury and injury to a child by omission with bodily injury.