Woman pleads not guilty to domestic assault charges

Story here. Excerpt:

'Maria Gonzales-Esquivel, King County Prosecutors say, tortured and assaulted her male housemate and his children for more than two years, sending the man to the hospital at least six times and blinding him partially in his left eye.

Despite his injuries, which included punctured lungs, wounds to his genitals and a broken nose, prosecutors say the man repeatedly covered for his tormentor, insisting that his ex-wife had possessed the woman and that the ex was responsible for the abuse, not Gonzales-Esquivel.

On Tuesday morning, 46-year-old Gonzales-Esquivel pleaded not guilty at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent to five charges of second-degree assault, including assaults against the daughter. She remains in jail on $200,000 bail.

According to King County Sheriff's Detective Robin Cleary, whose write-up forms the basis for the charges, the Sheriff's Office said Gonzales-Esquivel first came to its attention last November when she called to report that an unknown homeless man had dropped the injured housemate off at her house outside of Auburn. Gonzales-Esquivel told the deputy that her housemate had said that two unknown men had robbed and assaulted him.

Medics transported the man to Harborview Medical Center with wounds to his legs, a fractured rib and a "macerated" penis.'