The 13-year-old girl who escaped basement captivity from her step-father and step-brother in Ohio on May 18 told rescuers she had been bound by shackles due to a ‘point system.’
“We on a point system. Fifty points, get punished, shackled to basement,” the teen explained to her rescuer, Karen Loudermill, according to an NBC24 report.
Karen Loudermill was cleaning offices at a Port Authority building in Toldeo on Wednesday evening when she discovered the teen, according to the NBC24 report. Loudermill said two co-workers directed her to the girl—who was carrying a backpack and two smaller bags, had ratted hair and clothes, and was eating a Honey Bun.
The girl said that if her step-father found out she had left, she'd be in trouble. Loudermill then took the girl inside Port Authority building and called the girl’s step-father, Timothy Ciboro, 53.
Loudermill told NBC that Ciboro said: “I'll call you back,” seeming to be hurried. He then immediately hung up the phone.
Loudermill then asked the girl if she was being treated poorly by her parents, and the teen told her about the points system.
According to NBC, citing Loudermill, the girl said she doesn’t attend school and that she was forced to have tuna fish and dried macaroni every meal. She said that her step-brother, Esten Ciboro, 27, also punished her while she was shackled. When asked if she had been raped or molested, Loudermill said the girl hesitantly said no.
Timothy and Esten had kept the girl shackled to a support beam in the basement and were out jogging in a park when the girl used a spare key she had found and kept hidden to free herself. She left the home around 9 p.m.
The 911 call to police by Loudermill was obtained and released by The Blade:
When police arrived at the home, Timothy and Esten were about to flee in a van with Timothy’s two younger sons. The suspects were carrying a map, lockbox and firearm, and other items. The two boys were taken to Children’s Services.
Police say evidence supporting the allegations was recovered from inside the home, according to the NBC24. A set of large handcuffs or leg irons was found in the basement. They were chained to a support beam. A bucket with ammonia was also found.
The head of Lucas County Children Services said the girl was found with poor hygiene, but the two other children who also lived in the house, appeared to be okay.
“They were not victims, to my knowledge,” said Robin Reese, the agency’s executive director.
The agency had contact with the girl in 2014, but she did not show signs of being malnourished or mistreated and was never removed from the home, she said.
The girl was home-schooled, Reese said. All three children were placed in foster care on May 19.
