CINCINNATI – Authorities say an Ohio girl's email for help led to child abuse charges against her mother, grandmother and stepfather for allegedly beating and tying three children to their beds, sometimes for weeks at a time.
The 44-year-old man arrested in the case also is charged with raping his two stepdaughters, ages 9 and 11, and abusing their 8-year-old brother. He was the father of only one child in the Wheelersburg home, a 2-year-old girl.
The Associated Press is not naming the suspects to protect the children's identities.
The Scioto County Sheriff's Office says it learned about the alleged abuse after one of the older girls sent an email for help to a teacher at the children's online school.
Authorities say the homeschooled children were also sometimes deprived of food.
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