Woman Accused of Tying Up 11-Year-Old Formally Charged

A court-appointed guardian accused of tying an , was formally indicted in a Bridgeview courtroom Monday morning on 23 different counts.

Rocio Ochoa, 44 of Hillgrove Avenue, made a brief appearance in court to face the indictment handed down from the grand jury. Ochoa, who lives in La Grange, faces 23 total charges, including 14 counts of aggravated domestic battery, four counts aggravated battery with intent to commit bodily harm, four counts of child endangerment and one count of unlawful restraint of a child. Earlier this month Judge Colleen McSweeney-Moore ordered Ochoa held on $300,000 bond.

Ochoa will return to court Aug. 4 for her arraignment, said Tandra Simonton, a spokesperson for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. During that hearing Ochoa will make her formal plea of guilty or not guilty, Simonton said.

At midnight in late June an 11-year-old girl walked six blocks to the La Grange Police station and told officers she needed help. According to police reports, the girl informed the officers she had been beaten with a kitchen pan and tied up. Court records say the girl suffered multiple contusions and bruising along her body. The girl said Ochoa tied her to a pole, stuffed a rag in her mouth and left her without food and water or access to a bathroom, according to court documents. She told police her 9-year-old sister was still at Ochoa’s home.

When officers searched the house they found Ochoa and the girl’s younger sister. Ochoa was taken into custody June 27 and charged with two felony counts for aggravated domestic battery and unlawful restraint.

Holub praised the D.A.R.E. program for educating children to come to police for assistance in times of need.

Currently the sisters are in the custody of Child Protective Services. La Grange Police told Patch both of the girls are safe and in good health. Police Chief Michael Holub said there do not appear to be any significant or life-threatening injuries to either girl. However, authorities are closely monitoring the two girls for other signs of abuse and possible psychological needs.

. La Grange Police Chief Michael Holub told Patch the mother was deported approximately four years ago. The two girls, who are American citizens, were appointed a guardian by the Arizona courts. Ochoa moved the children to La Grange in 2009.  There is no known information about the girls’ father, according to La Grange police.