NYC foster kids held captive, abused in apartment for months: sources

THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) – Two foster kids in New York City were beaten and abused while they were held captive in an apartment for months, police sources said.

Police discovered the two children – ages 13 and 14 – in an apartment on Burke Avenue in the Bronx on Tuesday after authorities received a 911 call about a domestic disturbance, according to police sources.

Police found the two teens, who were "very skinny" and malnourished, and took them to a hospital for treatment, sources said. Doctors discovered they also had bruises about their body.

The teens told police they had been beaten with wooden sticks, bats and brooms. They had been handcuffed and tied up with electrical cords and hadn’t been allowed to leave the apartment in months, according to police sources.

Police arrested Michael Ramos at the apartment. Police learned that the teens were foster children who had been in the care of Ramos' mother until her death in December, sources said. After she died, Ramos allegedly kept the teens in the apartment and abused them for months.

Ramos was also found in possession of a "defaced" firearm, sources said. He was charged with assault, acting in a manner injurious to a child, and criminal possession of a weapon.

PIX11 News reached out to the New York City Administration for Children's Services for comment and is awaiting a response.