Court document reveals details of Ohio captivity case

By CNN Staff

(CNN) — It’s a horrifying case that officials described as heinous and troubling.

Three suspects were arrested Tuesday and accused of forced labor for allegedly holding a woman and her daughter captive for more than a year in Ashland, Ohio.

A federal prosecutor described it as modern-day slavery.

An FBI agent’s affidavit filed in an Ohio federal court this week provided details about some of accusations that suspects Jordie Callahan, Jessica Hunt and Daniel Brown are facing. Attorneys for Hunt and Brown could not be immediately reached for comment. An attorney for Callahan told CNN affiliate WOIO that the accusations are ludicrous. And Callahan’s mother told CNN that the accusations are false.

Here are several excerpts from Special Agent Michael S. Sirohman’s affidavit, which identifies the mother as “S.E.” and calls her 6-year-old daughter “juvenile victim:”

— “S.E. advised law enforcement that Hunt and Callahan made S.E. care for their iguanas and numerous pit bulls, clean the house, do laundry, do yard work, and walk to the store to do their shopping.”

— “Brown advised law enforcement that he instructed S.E. to hit juvenile victim and that Callahan, Hunt and Brown then used their cell phones to record the screen of the baby monitor as they watched S.E. hit juvenile victim on the monitor.”

— “S.E. recounted a time when she and juvenile victim had not eaten all day, and Callahan got a plate of food and gave it to the dog, rather than letting them eat.”

— “Witness #4 advised law enforcement that he had seen Callahan point guns at S.E.’s head and say he [Callahan] would shoot S.E. Witness #4 said he was sure S.E. was terrified.”

— “S.E. advised law enforcement that the door to that room was tied closed during the day to keep juvenile victim from getting into the family’s food while S.E. cleaned. S.E. further advised that at night, the door to this room was padlocked to keep S.E. and juvenile victim from escaping. S.E. advised that Callahan and Hunt ordered them to look at the camera in their room and ask to be let out to use the bathroom.”

— “Witness #3 advised law enforcement that he saw Hunt drag S.E. down the stairs from S.E.’s room by S.E.’s hair and Hunt held S.E.’s face down by a mess made by one of Hunt and Callahan’s pit bulls. Witness #3 advised that Hunt was swearing at S.E. and telling S.E. to clean up the dog urine (and) feces.”

— “S.E. told law enforcement that Callahan and Hunt would bind up juvenile victim with rope or tape to prevent juvenile victim from getting into Hunt and Callahan’s food or getting something to drink. … S.E. stated that on multiple occasions, she tried to remove the bindings from her daughter, but Hunt and Callahan were watching S.E. on the video monitor and one of Hunt’s sons would come up to the room and tell S.E. to leave the juvenile victim bound.”

— “Witness #5 told law enforcement that he had visited Hunt and Callahan’s apartment on multiple occasions to buy drugs. Witness #5 advised law enforcement that Callahan’s snake collection included a poisonous coral snake, a ball python, and a Burmese python that weighed approximately 130 pounds. Witness #5 said he saw Callahan put snakes on S.E. and put snakes in juvenile victim’s face and that juvenile victim would get scared and cry.”

— “S.E. advised law enforcement that she was not allowed to feed juvenile victim or give juvenile victim anything to drink without obtaining permission from Callahan and Hunt, and that it would regularly be after 8:00 p.m. before S.E. was allowed to feed juvenile victim. S.E. said there were times the pit bull dogs were fed the leftovers instead of S.E. and juvenile victim. S.E. said that S.E. was not able to feed fruit or vegetables to her daughter, but Callahan and Hunt ordered her to feed fruits and vegetables to the iguana that freely roamed in S.E. and juvenile victim’s bedroom.”