A Pennsylvania couple was criminally charged on Tuesday, days after the man’s 12-year-old daughter reportedly died from abuse and malnutrition.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Melinda Hoagland died hours after her father, Rendell Hoagland, 52, called medics to their West Caln on Saturday. Hoagland allegedly weighed 50 pounds when she died, in addition to six broken bones, lacerations and bruises, and liver damage.
Rendell Hoagland and his girlfriend, Cindy Warren, 45, are accused of shackling his daughter to furniture and forcing her to do hours of calisthenics as punishment. The pair also kept food from the girl and padlocked a pantry in the home, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
WCAU reported that investigators said they recovered cell phone video showing the abuse Melinda Hoagland suffered was “ongoing” and “systematic.”
“Evil and torment that no child should ever have to endure and they did it for months,” Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe.
On Saturday, Rendell Hoagland reportedly called 911 claiming that a tree knocked his daughter unconscious while she rode her bike. However, detectives determined that his story was not consistent with the girl’s extensive injuries, according to WNEP.
De Barrena-Sarobe also alleged that Melinda was pulled out of school late last year and attended virtual school. He claimed Warren’s 9-year-old son also lived in the home but she was not subjected to the abuse.
“She was virtually showing up on camera based on some of the videos that we reviewed, but she was shackled below from where the camera was,” he said.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, video footage showed Melinda Hogland performing exercises while chained. She was reportedly also filmed sleeping on the floor — chained — without a pillow or blanket.
Rendell Hoagland and Cindy Warren are facing various charges, including attempted criminal homicide, assault, and kidnapping. Their bond was set at $1 million each.
According to the Pocono Record, Warren was sentenced in 2009 to three to seven years for endangering the welfare of a child. In that case, which occurred in 2007, McKinley Warren Jr. abused their 3-year-old son and caused a head injury that killed his 2-year-old daughter. Warren was the deceased girl’s stepmother.
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[Featured image: Melinda Hoagland/Courtesy Chester County District Attorney’s Office]
