The Face of American Poverty

Joshua Tree couple is extremely poor, not abusive:

Deputies arrested the parents, Mona Kirk, 51, and Daniel Panico, 73, on suspicion of willful cruelty to a child, and Children and Family Services took custody of the children. On Friday, Kirk and Panico were charged with three counts each of felony child abuse.

"Children should not have to live like that," said Cindy Bachman, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department. "As parents they have a responsibility to provide the basic necessities for their children to grow up and be healthy and safe."

Authorities initially reported that the children were living "in a box," and the situation drew comparisons to the Turpin case, in which 13 children were found living captive in their parents' Perris home in January. Capt. Trevis Newport of the sheriff's Morongo Basin Station later clarified that the children were not being held captive.

"They're homeless," Newport said of the Joshua Tree family. "It's a shelter, the shape of a box … nowhere near what it sounded like when it came out."

Friends of the family say their situation is not at all one of criminal abuse, but of extreme poverty.

They describe highly intelligent children who were involved in soccer and scouts and who were cared for as best they could by struggling parents.

"The Sheriff's Department is punishing those kids for being homeless," said Leanna Munroe, who has known the family for nine years.