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A girl reported missing more than two years ago when she was 15 told police she escaped a home in Illinois where she had been held captive and repeatedly sexually assaulted.
Authorities in Washington Park, a village next to East St. Louis in the southwestern part of the state, raided the house Thursday afternoon and took into custody a 24-year-old man and his mother. They also recovered the teen's young child, which the girl said was the result of rape by her captor.
Washington Park Police Chief David Clark said they believe the man's mother aided the crimes. Police would not identify either of them by name because they had not been charged as of early Friday.
About two dozen members of a police commando unit wearing helmets and body armor swarmed the home with assault rifles drawn. They recovered the child and arrested a man and his mother.
One officer carried the child from the home, shielding the toddler with a sheet. The child was then taken away in an ambulance.
Police in St. Louis, Missouri, had listed the girl as a missing or runaway juvenile in April 2010.
The teen told police she was held against her will and was beaten and sexually assaulted almost every day. She reported trying to escape several times but told police 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 several local TV 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.” (AP)
<관련 한글 기사>
10대 소녀, 20대 男에게 납치당해 2년간...
한 소녀가 납치당한 후 2년동안이나 학대를 당하다가 최근 극적으로 탈출하는 사건이 발생했다.
미국 일리노이주 남쪽에 위치한 워싱턴 파크라는 마을의 경찰은 10대 소녀를 감금하고 학대한 혐의로 23일(현지시간) 24세 남성과 공범으로 의심되는 그의 어머니를 체포했다고 밝혔다. 무장한 경찰은 먼저 용의자의 집을 포위한 다음 급습해 그들을 체포했다고 한다.
구사일생으로 탈출한 소녀가 납치를 당한 시점은 약 2년 4개월 전인 2010년 4월.
당시 미주리 주 세인트 루이스 시에 거주하던 그녀는 용의자에게 납치되어 바로 옆에 위치한 일리노이 주 이스트 세인트 루이스 시 부근의 워싱턴 파크에 위치한 용의자의 집으로 끌려왔다.
납치 당시 15세에 불과했던 소녀는 감금당한 채 매일 학대를 당하는 지옥 같은 나날들을 보내야 했다.
그녀는 몇 번이나 탈출을 시도했지만, 그때마다 그녀를 감금한 이들은 흉기로 위협해 집으로 끌고 왔다고 한다. 그녀는 결국에는 친척의 도움을 받아 탈출에 성공했다.
한편 용의자의 이웃 중 하나인 라케이타 스미스 씨는 이 소녀를 집 밖에서 몇 번 목격했지만 수상한 점은 보지 못했다고 증언했다.
“(소녀가) 집에 들락날락하는 걸 보긴 했습니다... 그녀가 인질로 잡혀있다고는 생각도 못했죠”라고 스미스씨는 말했다. (코리아헤럴드)
