CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) – An investigator in Cincinnati says three siblings are in foster care with “loving people” after one sister’s email cry for help to a teacher last month led to their rescue.
The children’s mother, grandmother and stepfather have been arrested and charged with child abuse for allegedly beating them, tying them to their beds, sometimes for weeks at a time, denying them food and sexually assaulting them.
The 44-year-old man arrested in the case also is charged with raping his two stepdaughters, ages 9 and 11, and abusing their 8-year-old brother. He was the father of only one child in the Wheelersburg home, a 2-year-old girl.
The Associated Press is not naming the suspects to protect the children’s identities.
The Scioto County Sheriff’s Office says it learned about the alleged abuse after one of the older girls sent an email for help to a teacher at the children’s online school.