MILWAUKEE — A severely malnourished Wisconsin teenager found walking barefoot in pajamas outside in the cold last week had been forced to stay in an unfinished basement for years and an alarm would sound if she went upstairs, police records say.
The 15-year-old told authorities she ate what she could find in the garbage and on the floor of her father and stepmother’s Madison home. Sometimes she was made to eat her feces and drink her own urine.
And you think the curse words and colorful metaphors I use here are sick?
When Mike Vega found the teen Feb. 6, he says, she was crying and walking barefoot in thin pajamas. She was bleeding from a gash on her nose and other small scrapes and was so scrawny he mistook her for an 8-year-old.
The girl’s 40-year-old father and 42-year-old stepmother, whom The Associated Press is not naming to protect the identity of the girl, were arrested Friday on suspicion of child abuse and neglect. A judge set their bail yesterday at $20,000 each.
Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said the girl was getting follow-up medical treatment and remained in protective custody.
The girl said her father and stepmother had forced her to stay in the basement since 2006.
She told authorities that she had to ask her stepmother for permission to eat, drink water, or use the bathroom upstairs. She said if she was caught eating without permission, the couple would make her throw out the food, or vomit.
Vega, who lives about a mile from the girl and her family, said he was driving on a busy street not far from home when he spotted her. As he slowly passed her, he looked through his rearview mirror and saw her bare feet. He backed up and she told him she needed help.
Once she was inside Vega’s car, he noticed her bloody scrapes and a large bruise on her forehead. The girl’s feet were purple from the cold, he said.
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"Stepbrother charged in Wis. teen abuse case" by Associated Press, February 17, 2012
MADISON, Wis. - The stepbrother of a severely malnourished Wisconsin 15-year-old was charged yesterday with repeatedly sexually assaulting her in the same year she says her father and stepmother began confining her to the basement....
Robert Burke, a lawyer representing the three until public defenders can be assigned to their cases, requested signature bonds for the father and stepmother. He said both have strong ties to the community and that there’s is no risk of them coming in contact with the girl because she no longer lives in their home....
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The child sex s*** goes right to the top:
"Wis. governor to meet with DA" by Associated Press, February 04, 2012
MADISON, Wis. - Governor Scott Walker said yesterday that he will meet with a district attorney leading a secret investigation that has already resulted in charges being filed against five former close aides and associates.
The development brings Walker closer to the investigation than ever before, a potential vulnerability for him as he faces an effort to recall him from office....
Related: Wis. reveals secret site of recall petitions
The criminal charges so far have come against people who worked for or were associated with Walker’s county executive office in Milwaukee before he was elected governor in 2010.
Kelly Rindfleisch, Walker’s deputy chief of staff before he became governor in 2011, has been charged with four felony counts of misconduct in office. Darlene Wink, who was Walker’s county constituent services coordinator, faces two misdemeanor counts of political solicitation by a public employee.
It is illegal for public workers to raise funds or otherwise work on political campaigns or use their public workspaces to do so.
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