Monday, Aug 27, 2012
She was 15 when she was reported missing more than two years ago.
Now, details of her horrific ordeal have emerged after the girl escaped from a home in south-western Illinois where she was allegedly held captive and sexually assaulted repeatedly.
The authorities in Washington Park, a village next to East St Louis in Missouri, raided the house on Thursday afternoon.
About two dozen members of a heavily armed Swat team kitted in body armour swarmed the home with assault rifles drawn at 5.30pm.
They recovered the teen's young child, which the girl claimed was the result of rape by her captor. They also arrested a 24-year-old man and his mother.
One officer carried the child from the home, shielding the toddler with a sheet. The child was then taken away in an ambulance, reported AP.
The teenager and the toddler were later turned over to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
Washington Park Police Chief David Clark said they believe the man's mother was an accomplice.
The police would not identify either of them by name because they had not been charged as of Thursday evening.
The police in St Louis, Missouri, had listed the girl as a missing or runaway juvenile in April 2010.
The teen told police she was held against her will and was beaten and sexually assaulted almost every day.
Foiled escape attempts
She tried to escape several times but told police that her captor chased her down each time and forced her back to the home at gunpoint.
She was able to escape this week with the help of a relative.
Police said the teen also told them she was forced by the man and his mother to give a false name in medical records during her pregnancy and when the child was born.
A neighbour, Lakeitha Smith, told several local TV stations that she saw the girl from time to time outside the house and never witnessed anything that would raise concern.
"I used to see her come out of the house, back and forth," Ms Smith said. "I didn't think she was being held hostage in the house."
She was 15 when she was reported missing more than two years ago.
Now, details of her horrific ordeal have emerged after the girl escaped from a home in south-western Illinois where she was allegedly held captive and sexually assaulted repeatedly.
The authorities in Washington Park, a village next to East St Louis in Missouri, raided the house on Thursday afternoon.
About two dozen members of a heavily armed Swat team kitted in body armour swarmed the home with assault rifles drawn at 5.30pm.
They recovered the teen's young child, which the girl claimed was the result of rape by her captor. They also arrested a 24-year-old man and his mother.
One officer carried the child from the home, shielding the toddler with a sheet. The child was then taken away in an ambulance, reported AP.
The teenager and the toddler were later turned over to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
Washington Park Police Chief David Clark said they believe the man's mother was an accomplice.
The police would not identify either of them by name because they had not been charged as of Thursday evening.
The police in St Louis, Missouri, had listed the girl as a missing or runaway juvenile in April 2010.
The teen told police she was held against her will and was beaten and sexually assaulted almost every day.
Foiled escape attempts
She tried to escape several times but told police that her captor chased her down each time and forced her back to the home at gunpoint.
She was able to escape this week with the help of a relative.
Police said the teen also told them she was forced by the man and his mother to give a false name in medical records during her pregnancy and when the child was born.
A neighbour, Lakeitha Smith, told several local TV stations that she saw the girl from time to time outside the house and never witnessed anything that would raise concern.
"I used to see her come out of the house, back and forth," Ms Smith said. "I didn't think she was being held hostage in the house."
