Calero still in jail

The Calero couple is still in jail:

Deputy District Attorney Jon ... Yamaguchi said "given their lack of responsibility" over the New Year's weekend, he didn't want the couple released on their own recognizance.

The prosecutor also said he didn't want them released in case they wanted to confront the boys' grandmother, Liberata Holden of Manteca -- who had summoned the officers who found the boys -- "for the predicament that the defendants find themselves in." ...

Calero and De La Vega wore jail jumpsuits and sniffled throughout their arraignment Friday, which came just hours after prosecutors formally charged them with two counts each of child endangerment.

Such a charge alleges the defendants "willfully" caused or allowed the children "to be placed in a situation where his or her person or health is endangered." Each charge carries a maximum sentence of six years.

The law also requires that the endangerment be "under circumstances or conditions likely to produce great bodily harm or death". I am still waiting for an estimate of the likelihood of great bodily harm, and what that harm is. I do not think that the DA has enough info yet to charge anyone with anything.

I also question locking them up because he might talk to his mother-in-law who schemed to steal custody of his kids. The Constitution allows him to confront his accusers. The DA seems to be particularly vindictive in order to satisfy news media folks who wanted to make a public example out of a bad parent.

Update: A reader writes:

I like your comments. If people dig a little deeper, Its not what it seems!

He has more on his blog. It is possible that Calero had a deal with the grandmother to watch his kids, but the grandmother set him up so that she could win a custody fight.