The father and step-mother of the 14-year-old girl who was forced to live in a tiny bathroom for nearly two months have been indicted, authorities announced today.
A grand jury decided that Scott Bass, 33, and Andrea Bass, 31, will be charged with three counts of child abuse and one count of kidnapping for forcing the girl to live in the bathroom as punishment for stealing food.
Last week, we learned that the girl escaped from the bathroom on January 24, by crawling up a linen closet, through an attic crawlspace, kicking out a loose board, and running out the back door.
Authorities believe the girl was beaten with metal rods while held captive in her own home and was only fed once every two days.
The girl was often forced to exercise until exhaustion and was living without running water the entire time, police say.
After escaping, the girl rode her bike to a coffee shop, where an employee called police.
When police got to the house, the parents allowed them in for questioning. When police opened the bathroom door, which was locked from the outside, the parents were surprised to see the girl not there.
Instead, they found a bucket full of urine, a blanket, and some empty cans of food.
Police later discovered that the girl was often forced to sleep outside in the summer, and locked in a dark closet.
Under questioning by police, Andrea Bass said she no longer wanted anything to do with the girl. As we pointed out in a previous post, we have a feeling that after the court system gets through with her, she won't have to worry about that.
