A Talmage couple were arrested Thursday on a number of felony charges alleging they sexually abused at least two of their five children over a 13-year period, said Mendocino County Sheriff's Capt. Greg Van Patten.
Donald Dunakin, 61, and Ina Medina, 47, have been charged with sodomy, continuous sexual abuse of a child, a lewd act with a child, oral copulation of a child, penetration with a foreign object and torture, Van Patten said.
"This is a very heartbreaking case to work," Van Patten said. "But it's also the reason we do what we do: to identify situations like this and protect children."
Sheriff's detectives began investigating the case on Wednesday when they were contacted by Child Protective Services.
They found that the couple, who has lived in the Ukiah area together for 30 years, had been abusing at least two of their children for the past 13 years, Van Patten said. The age of the children at the time they were abused ranged from 3 to 16.
"Because of the nature of the case, we wanted to be as quick as possible," Van Patten said. The children are now in custody of Child Protective Services, he added.
Dunakin and Medina were booked into Mendocino County Jail and held in lieu of $250,000 bail.
The case remains under investigation and Van Patten asked that anyone with information call the Sheriff's Office tip line at 234-2100.
You can reach Staff Writer Jamie Hansen at 521-5205 or jamie.hansen@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter at @JamieHansen.
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