A cognitively disabled woman and her young daughter were held against their will in an Ohio home for more than two years, forced to perform manual labor, threatened by poisonous snakes, and beaten to scare them from ever escaping, authorities announced on Tuesday.
Jessica L. Hunt, 31, and Daniel J. Brown, 33, and Jordie L. Callahan, 26, were arrested in Ashland, Ohio, and charged with forced labor for holding the woman and her child starting in May 2011, the United States Attorney for Northern Ohio said in a statement.
Callahan was also charged with tampering with a witness after allegedly forcing the mother to hit her child and videotaping the incident to use against her if she ever went to the police.
"We are yet again reminded that modern-day slavery exists all around us," said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. "One of our nation's core values is freedom, yet this woman and her child were denied freedom for two years. The victims in this case endured violence, threats, subhuman living conditions and other horrific acts."
