3 indicted after Ohio girl's email plea for help

2/18/2014
ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — Two Ohio parents and a grandmother accused of tying three home-schooled children to their beds, beating them with belts and paddles and depriving them of food have been indicted on child endangerment charges.

The Scioto County sheriff’s office says it learned about the abuse after one of the girls sent an email for help to a teacher at an online school.

The indictments were handed down today. The adults are charged with three counts each of child endangerment.

One of the adults is a stepfather from the Virgin Islands. He’s also charged with raping two of the children, girls ages 9 and 11.

The sheriff’s office says the girls and their 8-year-old brother have scars to match their stories of abuse.

The adults’ attorneys have declined to comment or ignored requests for comment.