( CNN ) -- Mexican authorities are still unraveling the horrors allegedly committed on nearly 500 children sheltered at `` La Gran Familia '' refuge in the western state of Michoacan . At The Big Family shelter , scores of children -- some as young as two months old -- were denied visits from their parents , virtually imprisoned in vermin-infested quarters and routinely subjected to physical , psychological and sexual abuse , authorities said . Authorities raided the sprawling , squalid shelter in the city of Zamora Tuesday after a number of parents complained about being denied access to their children , Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karan told reporters . `` We found close to 500 children in truly deplorable conditions , '' Murillo said . Victims told investigators that children were routinely forced to beg for money on the streets , eat unsanitary food and sleep on hard floors crawling with rats and roaches , Murillo said . It was not clear from Mexican authorities how so many children -- along with some adults -- came to be at the shelter . The operator of the shelter , Rosa del Carmen Verduzco , was detained along with eight of her employees , authorities said . They were being questioned in connection with abuse and other charges . `` This is truly upsetting , '' Michoacan governor Salvador Jara Guerrero told reporters . `` We did not expect to find such conditions ... We must not allow these things to occur -- not in Michoacan , not in the republic . '' Tomas Zeron de Lucio , chief investigator with the attorney general 's office , said babies born at the shelter were allegedly registered under Verduzco 's name . The biological parents were told that the babies would be allowed to leave when they came of age . One victim told investigators that she asked Verduzco permission to leave the home when she turned 18 but was kept there as a worker for an additional 13 years , Zeron de Lucio said . The victim said she gave birth to two daughters while living at the shelter and both were registered under another name , Zeron de Lucio said . She was allowed to see the girls for three hours every two months . During her last meeting with Verduzco , the victim told investigators , she offered the shelter operator about 10,000 Mexican pesos -- or about $ 750 -- to get her daughters back . `` Get the money together , '' Verduzco reportedly told her , `` and give me a call . '' Authorities were working to rid the shelter of rats , bedbugs and roaches because there was no other place to immediately move the scores of children on short notice . `` Right now , we 're undertaking an exhaustive cleaning because there were bedbugs , roaches and rats even in the food , '' Maria Ampudio , who works with a charitable organization , told CNN Wednesday . `` The food given to the children was spoiled and outdated . '' Ampudio said some girls reported being thrown to the ground and kicked in the head . The shelter , which houses people ranging from newborns to 40 years of age , had been in operation for more than 40 years , authorities said . The majority of the minors are between 3 and 17 years of age -- 278 are male and 174 female . There were 138 adults from 18 to 40 years of age also at the schedule . Also recovered were six babies and toddlers . The website of `` La Gran Familia '' shelter said Verduzco started caring for abandoned children when she herself was a teenager . She later worked as a grade school teacher and earned a meager living to care for her charges . The children , the website said , helped raise money by selling newspapers and sweets in the town square . Verduzco later left her charges in the care of a poor , elderly woman , according to the website . She moved to Mexico City to work with a charitable foundation , where she cared for 33 children and sent money back to Zamora . She later returned to Michoacan to start La Gran Familia , which housed more than 4,000 children over the years , according to the website . CNN 's Fidel Gutierrez contributed to this report .
Mexican authorities found nearly 500 children living in squalor at a refuge in Michoacan state . The children were subjected to physical , psychological and sexual abuse , authorities say . TL;DR Michoacan governor Salvador Jara Guerrero : ` ` We must not allow these things to occur ''