SAN ANTONIO – It's been more than three months since Cheryl Reed's two young children were found tied up in the backyard of a northeast Bexar County home showing signs of malnourishment and abuse.
Reed and two others, Porucha Phillips and Deandre Dorch, were indicted by a grand jury July 29. They are charged with injury to a child.
During a jailhouse interview Monday, Reed said she wished she'd done things differently.
"I don't understand why my kids were starved and beaten," Reed said. "If I had known I was going to be gone that long, I would've taken my children with me."
Reed's son and daughter, ages 4 and 3, were found by sheriff's deputies chained up in a backyard of a home in the 8100 block of Chipping Avenue on April 28.
The mother of four said she trusted the two kids with Phillips and Dorch while dealing with a custody battle for her oldest child in California.
Reed refers to Phillips as her "Godsister." She said she can't comprehend how the people she's know for so long could cause so much hurt.
"I don't want to talk to them but I want to ask them why. God bless them. I forgive them. They got to answer to God, not to me," Reed said.
Reed said it hurt her when she learned her kids were victims to child abuse.
"I love them and I'm going to try and do anything that I have to to get them back," Reed said.
Even while she was away from the kids, Reed said she stayed in touch almost daily.
"I wasn't just any old mother you know just sitting around with the kids, abusing the kids. I used to go to the park with my kids, spend time with my kids, do things with my kids. I miss all that with my kids," Reed said.
Reed, Phillips and Dorch remain behind bars while they await trial. If convicted, they could each face up to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.