LAKEPORT, Calif. – Two Lakeport residents have been arrested for child abuse after police said an investigation revealed they had abused two boys.

Emmanuel Yagnye Yennyemb, 58, and Janice Sue Harper, 48, were arrested on Feb. 7, according to Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen.

Rasmussen said that on Oct. 26 his department’s school resource officer received a call from Lakeport Unified staff regarding two boys, ages 10 and 14, who were possible child abuse victims.

The officer went to the school office and met with officials and the 14-year-old, who had visible injuries, Rasmussen said.

The teen told the officer that Harper and Yennyemb had inflicted the injuries on him. During the interview Rasmussen said the officer found out that the 10-year-old was at home.

Rasmussen said the officer contacted Child Protective Services which, at the officer’s request, met the officer at the school and then responded to the home.

He said the 10-year-old also was found to have suffered from a traumatic injury, and CPS took custody of both juveniles.

The Lakeport Police Department detective subsequently took over the case and conducted an extensive investigation with the help of the District Attorney’s Office’s criminal investigations division, Rasmussen said.

The investigation included multiple interviews, two search warrants that were served on two Lakeport residences and a third search warrant for the forensic examination of an electronic device, according to Rasmussen.

Rasmussen said the investigation was completed on Jan. 5 and sent to the District Attorney’s Office, which filed charges against Harper and Yennyemb on Jan. 24.

A Lake County Superior Court judge signed warrants for their arrests and they were taken into custody for child abuse by a Lakeport Police officer on Feb. 7, Rasmussen said.

Both were booked with bail set at $150,000. Rasmussen said they later posted bail and were released.

Yennyemb is the clinic operations manager for Lake County Tribal Health, while Harper, a registered nurse, is outreach manager, according to the organization’s Web site. A request for comment sent to Tribal Health’s executive director about the arrests was not responded to by the time of publication.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said Harper and Yennyemb were each charged with two counts of willful infliction of cruel or inhuman corporal punishment or an injury resulting in a traumatic condition.

If convicted, they face up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $6,000 fine, or both, he said.

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