Waukegan Family Member: Child Held Captive Made Threats
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A view into the basement where authorities said parents held a 10-year-old girl captive.
No one but the family and police had seen the Waukegan basement where the girl was held until now.
A family member invited CBS 2 to see the space, and that person is coming to the parents' defense.
CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker has this original report.
Yechezqel Swopes showed the basement where he confirmed his 10-year-old sister lived for months.
When asked if the doors stayed locked and if he locked her in, Swopes said "yeah."
It's an unfinished basement with a musty smell.
She ate at a table meant for a toddler and even though she was a 10-year-old, she used a pink plastic potty as a toilet.
Asked why the child couldn't use the upstairs bathroom...
"Because of threats she was making," he said.
Threats to his 13 and seven-year-old sisters. That's the reason, according to Swopes, that the 10-year-old was banished to the basement while everyone else lived upstairs.
"She threatened to take their lives. To kill them," said Swopes.
The reason for the threats is unclear. Swopes said his sister also complained she was being stalked by strangers.
He said their parents Randy and Katherine, who are now behind bars charged with felony child abuse, told her to write a report about her alleged stalkers and they would give it to police.
When asked if she ever wanted to leave the basement, Swopes said "she asked to come up about a week prior before things happened. She said she wasn't done with her statements in writing."
Swopes doesn't believe his parents should be in jail.
"No. They were doing in the best interest to keep her safe," said Swopes.
He lives in the house with his older sister. His younger sisters were taken into DCFS custody. Swopes said his parents call every day from the Lake County Jail to check on them.
Randy and Katherine Swopes are back in court Tuesday.
