Girl held captive, assaulted for years in 'deplorable' home
WASHINGTON PARK, Ill. (AP) - A teenage Missouri girl reported missing more than two years ago told police she escaped a home in a decaying, crime-ridden Illinois village where she was held captive and subjected to sexual assaults that resulted in a child.
About two dozen members of a SWAT team wearing body armor and tactical gear raided the home Thursday afternoon in southwestern Illinois' Washington Park, taking into custody a 24-year-old man and his mother.
"The conditions in there were definitely deplorable," St. Clair County State's Attorney Brendan Kelly, the county's top prosecutor, told The Associated Press on Friday after consulting with investigators at the scene.
Police also recovered the teen's young child, who the girl said was the result of rape by her captor. The child was taken away in an ambulance.
No charges had been filed as of Friday morning, though Kelly said he anticipated investigators would submit reports for his review later in the day.
Initial evidence suggests that "some of the details are consistent with what the young lady is saying, and I think there's something to it. We're still trying to figure out what the heck is going on," Kelly said.
Police in St. Louis listed the girl as a missing or runaway juvenile in April 2010, when she was 15.
The teen told police she was held against her will and was beaten and sexually assaulted almost daily. She said she tried to escape several times but that her captor chased her down each time and forced her back to the home at gunpoint.
She told police 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 neighbor, Lakeitha Smith, told local television 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," Smith said. "I didn't think she was being held hostage in the house."
Long known for its strip clubs and poverty, Washington Park - tucked on the edge of East St. Louis - has grappled for years with corruption and violent crime punctuated by the 2010 shooting death of the village's mayor, John Thornton. A suspect in that killing was convicted in April of first-degree murder and awaits sentencing.
Washington Park, where 86 percent of the 4,200 residents are black, is in one of the state's poorest regions and twice since 2004 has filed for bankruptcy, the last time in 2009.
About two dozen members of a SWAT team wearing body armor and tactical gear raided the home Thursday afternoon in southwestern Illinois' Washington Park, taking into custody a 24-year-old man and his mother.
"The conditions in there were definitely deplorable," St. Clair County State's Attorney Brendan Kelly, the county's top prosecutor, told The Associated Press on Friday after consulting with investigators at the scene.
Police also recovered the teen's young child, who the girl said was the result of rape by her captor. The child was taken away in an ambulance.
No charges had been filed as of Friday morning, though Kelly said he anticipated investigators would submit reports for his review later in the day.
Initial evidence suggests that "some of the details are consistent with what the young lady is saying, and I think there's something to it. We're still trying to figure out what the heck is going on," Kelly said.
Police in St. Louis listed the girl as a missing or runaway juvenile in April 2010, when she was 15.
The teen told police she was held against her will and was beaten and sexually assaulted almost daily. She said she tried to escape several times but that her captor chased her down each time and forced her back to the home at gunpoint.
She told police 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 neighbor, Lakeitha Smith, told local television 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," Smith said. "I didn't think she was being held hostage in the house."
Long known for its strip clubs and poverty, Washington Park - tucked on the edge of East St. Louis - has grappled for years with corruption and violent crime punctuated by the 2010 shooting death of the village's mayor, John Thornton. A suspect in that killing was convicted in April of first-degree murder and awaits sentencing.
Washington Park, where 86 percent of the 4,200 residents are black, is in one of the state's poorest regions and twice since 2004 has filed for bankruptcy, the last time in 2009.
Sounds like it might not be so cut and dried. From the St. Louis TV station's website.Â
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 "The alleged victim and names of those arrested in the case have not been released. However family and friends of the alleged attackers say the 19 year old is lying. One woman who lived in the house for 6 months at one point says there were never any indications that anyone was being held against their will. And that this story was reported on a day the 19 year old got into a disagreement with family members."
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Maybe, there's an element of coercion, but not outright kidnapping? Statutory Rape, possibly. And what about the house was "deplorable"? These stories get so sensationalized. It start to read like a Jerry Springer script. I wonder if they are going to say those kids across the street were on a chain gang.
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Meanwhile, I see some major thievery going on in one of the pictures; There's a gas station across the street.
Need more facts. If the neighbors saw this girl out and about why not leave or get help from the neighbors. Something doesn't smell right.
@Willie69
"Something doesn't smell right" Its the house
 @Willie69 She had a child, I bet that would be part of her hesitation. Finding help now, before her child was old enough to be assaulted might be why now, and not back then. Fear messes with a persons mind.Â
@Willie69 yea thats your arm pits
Do you know anything about kidnap victims, held for long amount of time?
Jaycee Dugard has held captive for 18 years. Was that her fault too?
Look up Stockholm Syndrome
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome
 @LeftisBest Thank you!
Burn him at the stake.
Teenagers really don't think about what their life will TRULY be like when they run away, they only think "it has to be better than this" (whatever "this" they area dealing with at the time). Thankfully this girl's nightmare ended on a good note compared to some. At least it's over & she's still alive.
 @katiemcc They dont know if she ran away or was kidnapped.
but it didnt say how many the SWAT team shot?!!
Sounds like hell on earth. Should be interesting once facts surface until I better reserve judgement of all concerned in this sordid tale.