WASHINGTON PARK, IL. (KTVI) – A St. Louis woman escaped from a home after being held there as a sex slave, according to the Washington Park Police Department.
The SWAT Team went into the home at Kingshighway and Warren Thursday night and arrested the alleged 25-year-old captor and retrieved a now two-year-old baby boy.
Investigators say the 19-year-old woman had been held as a sex slave at the home for three years.
Washington Park police confirm the victim was reported as a runaway by the St. Louis police department. The victim told police she was not allowed out of the house and as a result of the sexual assaults, she gave birth to a baby boy.
The child was brought out of the house under a sheet during the raid to conceal his identity. He was put into an ambulance and taken away to be checked out.
Police say the victim told them the suspect and his mother forced her to falsify medical records regarding the child’s birth and forced her to use a false name to conceal her identity as an under-aged mother.
“I used to see her from time to time coming out of the house. but i didn’t know any strange activity was going on like that because you never think they’d be right next door to your house,” said Lakeitha Smith.
The victim told police she was beaten and sexually assaulted by the suspect almost everyday.
The victim escaped Monday with the help of a relative and came to the police department.
The suspect, who police say was holding her captive, also fathered a child with the 19-year-old victim. He was arrested during a raid of the home Thursday.
Click here for the latest updates on this story from KTVI-TV in St. Louis.
