Police say a Waukegan couple has been charged with child endangerment and unlawful restraint after police officers in Waukegan discovered a 10-year-old girl had been forced to live in a basement.
Randy Swopes, 48, and Katherine Swopes, 49.
Officers responded to an anonymous call Tuesday at 1:50 p.m. to a single-family home on the 200 block of Liberty Street. The caller said they believed someone was being held captive in the basement of the house.
Upon searching the basement, officers discovered the girl had been forced to live there.
According to police, investigators believe that within the last year the girl had been given limited access to the outside, was locked in the basement at night, went to the bathroom in a training toilet and showered in a bucket.
The girl’s parents told investigators they believed she was “possessed by a demon,” police said.
Her parents Randy Swopes, 48, and Katherine Swopes, 49, of Waukegan were both arrested and are in the Lake County jail on charges of child endangerment and unlawful restraint.
Randy Swopes is being held on $750,000 bond. Katherine Swopes is being held on $150,000 bond. They are both scheduled to appear in court on July 31.
The 10-year-old girl and her three siblings, ages 7, 13 and 15, have been taken into protective custody by the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services.
By NATALIE WATTS
Source: Daily Herald
