Three teenage sisters were allegedly held prisoner by their mother and stepfather in a Tucson, Ariz., house for up to two years, in what investigators called “filthy living conditions.”
Officers arrived at the house Tuesday morning following a 911 call reporting domestic violence, and discovered that the sisters, aged 12, 13, and 17, were living as captives, KVOA reports. The younger girls told officers they were kept in a separate room from the older sister, and the three had not been reunited in almost two years. Police say the girls were malnourished, abused, and had not bathed in approximately four to six months.
The girls ran to a neighbor’s house early Tuesday after their stepfather allegedly kicked down their bedroom door and threatened to assault them with a knife. When police arrived, they told them about the third sister, who was still captive.
The mother and stepfather, Sophia and Fernando Richter, will face six charges each of child abuse. Fernando Richter will also face one charge of sex abuse of a child under 15.
[KVOA]