Freedom for 3 sisters locked at home by parents
Print Edition
A 17-year-old Arizona girl hugged her two younger sisters, touched their faces and talked about how they had all changed when they finally were reunited after their mother and stepfather kept them imprisoned in their home for up to two years, authorities said.
It’s been a week since the Tucson girls were freed. On Tuesday, authorities revealed more details with the release of a police report and a transcript of a neighbor’s call to the emergency police dispatcher.
Investigators said the two younger girls, ages 12 and 14, escaped on November 26 through the window of the bedroom they shared and alerted a neighbor. They told the neighbor their stepfather had a knife and that they were frightened for their lives, according to the authorities.
Police said the three girls were malnourished and dirty. One of them said she hadn’t showered in more than a month.
The girls’ stepfather, Fernando Richter, and their mother, Sophia Richter, face multiple kidnapping and child abuse charges.
The two remained in custody on Tuesday and could not be reached for comment. No current attorney was listed for either parent in court records. The Richters made brief court appearances by video on November 27, but neither entered a plea.
The parents appeared to be drunk when police arrived at the home on November 26, the police report said.
“Fernando had bloodshot, watery eyes, odor of intoxicants coming from his person and stumbled as he walked,” the report said. Sophia Richter was in a similar state, according to authorities.
When police asked the stepfather who else was in the home, he answered only that his two dogs were there. However, officers say they found the oldest girl locked in a back bedroom with music blaring.
The music played constantly from the girls’ bedrooms, and duct work was sealed and towels were forced against doors to prevent the sound from being heard outside, according to the police.
There were motion sensors and locks on the girls’ bedroom doors and video cameras trained on their beds. If the girls needed to use the bathroom, there was an unspecified signal for them to let the parents know they needed a bathroom break, according to police.
When police asked the oldest sister what had happened, she replied: “I haven’t seen anyone in two years. I am in my room all day, and I have not seen my sisters in a year and a half.”
She went on to tell officers that she was let out of her room once a day to go to the restroom and that she was not allowed to go outdoors or look outside.
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