Children rest in one of the rooms of the shelter La Gran Familia (The big family) during a police raid where 596 people, including 458 children were rescued in Zamora. Source: AFP

More than 450 children were rescued yesterday from La Gran Familia shelter in the western Mexican town of Zamora, many of whom were abused or kidnapped, police said.

Parents and families have revealed their horror and devastation at learning how their children were treated at the shelter, which was supposed to care for and keep them safe.

Seeking to get their children back, families from around the country gathered at the charitable shelter where they were still being kept under authorities’ care after police arrested the facility’s director, Rosa del Carmen Verduzco, and eight employees.

Lucia Carranza said she was anxious to see her five-year-old son after only being allowed three visits a year since handing him over to the shelter.

“My husband and I were day workers, we worked in the countryside and survived by the grace of God, so I couldn’t keep my baby and they recommended this place,” Ms Carranza, 25, said.

“I thought I would be able to see him every week like at other facilities, but no.

The interior yard of La Gran Familia where children were found living in squalid conditions amid rats and insects.Source: AFP

“We looked for lawyers but everyone told me it was impossible to do anything against her (Verduzco).”

Police found 596 people, including 138 adults, living amid rats and insects when they raided the home after complaints of abuse and kidnapping.

Early investigations indicate Verduzco and her staff inflicted “a variety of physical and psychological abuse” on the residents, according to Tomas Zeron de Lucio, an investigator at the attorney general’s office.

The children were forced to beg in the street, sleep on the floor and eat unfit food, he told journalists.

Some residents were also sexually abused, he said.

Stolen identities

The rescued children included six babies, who officials said had been born at the home and registered as the director’s own.

Mexican soldiers stand guard outside the shelter during the police raid. Source: AFP

One former resident, Bertha Saucedo, told Foro TV that Verduzco had forced her to give up her daughter, who has Down’s syndrome, after she gave birth at the shelter.

“They took my daughter away from me when she was three months old,” she said.

“When she was six years old, I started coming to see her and she (Verduzco) never let me see her because she had Down’s syndrome and if I didn’t pay her she was never going to give her back.

“I didn’t file a complaint because I was afraid they would treat her badly, hit her and take her food away.”

Authorities did not explain how the adults at the facility had been held against their will.

Support for ‘the Boss’

La Gran Familia was founded in 1947, according to its Facebook page, and houses residents ranging from newborns to adults over the age of 40.

Mexican police found 596 people including 138 adults living amid the horror conditions. Source: AFP

Locals described Verduzco as a respected, and sometimes feared, figure in Zamora, a town of 186,000 people about a 90-minute drive from Morelia, the capital of Michoacan state.

The shelter was a regular stop on the campaign trail for local and state politicians in Michoacan, a rural state plagued by drug trafficking.

Some family members said Verduzco’s political influence had deterred them from fighting to get their children back.

Relatives of children wait outside the shelter for news of their children. Source: AFP

“At the Michoacan prosecutor’s office, they just told me it was impossible to do anything against that lady,” said Avigail Martinez, who had come to bring home her son.

A prominent Mexican writer and historian, Enrique Krauze, spoke out in Verduzco’s defence after the raid, praising her “life dedicated to taking in orphans” and vowing an international protest.

The shelter’s Facebook page shows Verduzco with former president Felipe Calderon and a former Michoacan governor, along with colourful images of children playing musical instruments, marching in a parade and riding on a toy train.

According to the website, the director has personally adopted all the children — “that is to say, all the children have the last name ‘Verduzco,’” it says.

“Inside this home Mama Rosa — or the ‘Boss,’ as everyone in Zamora calls her — provides them education ... as well as different activities such as art, fashion workshops, metalworking, bricklaying and music.”

Three women weep while waiting for information about their children. Source: AFP