A New Mexico couple has been arrested following allegations of horrific abuse in their Aztec home — but one of their adult children is insisting that they are innocent.

KOB4 reports that Martha and Timothy Crouch were arrested on Monday following an investigation by the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD), tipped off by a report that the children in their home were not receiving an education.

While the report indicates that the couple has 15 children between them, it is unclear how many were living in the Aztec home at the time of the arrest, as some are now adults and some have reportedly moved out of the home claiming to have been beaten.

Court documents obtained by the news station show that a teen girl living in the home told police that her parents withheld food and that Martha Crouch killed the children’s pets as punishment as the children were forced to watch.

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“Martha took the puppies and put them into a giant pot and boiled them,” the teen girl reportedly told police, adding that she and her siblings were fed only one meal a day.

Another child, a boy, reportedly told police that he was “beaten, shot, stabbed and run over by his parents and even had b-b’s still inside his arm.”

And a girl claimed that she was tethered to a “fat chain,” presumably to keep her from accessing food, because she was told she was overweight.

But the couple’s 31-year-old son, also named Timothy, told the news station that the allegations are untrue.

“My mom’s a great person,” he said. “I mean, if it wasn’t for my mom, I’d literally be living in a ditch, and my dad is who made me who I am today.”

It is unclear what charges Martha and the elder Timothy Crouch are facing, and the police have not yet released a mugshot.

According to the report, the couple had faced similar allegations in four separate states, and moved to a new location just after an investigation began in another state — perhaps more than once.

This is a developing story. CrimeOnline will provide further updates as more information becomes available.

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