Police: Phoenix girl kept in bathroom for 2 months

[Kadie]

Police: Phoenix girl kept in bathroom for 2 months
By AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, February 10, 2010


(02-10) 12:43 PST PHOENIX (AP) --

A malnourished Phoenix girl was locked in a bathroom without running water for two months, beaten with metal rods, and forced to exercise until exhaustion because her father said she had stolen food and cheated on a home-school test, police said Wednesday.

Scott and Andrea Bass, the 14-year-old girl's father and stepmother, were arrested Feb. 4 for investigation of child abuse, kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment.

"No one on this earth needs to be treated the way this child was treated," Phoenix police Officer Luis Samudio said.

snip...
The girl escaped from the bathroom through the attic on Feb. 4 and rode her bike to a nearby movie theater, where a concerned couple gave her $50. She then rode about 13 miles to a Phoenix strip mall and bought water, food, a backpack and clothes because she hadn't been allowed to change for weeks, Samudio said.

The girl then rode to a coffee shop in Scottsdale, where she asked an employee to call police.

Samudio said when police arrived at the girl's home to interview Scott Bass, he thought the girl was still in the bathroom and was "visibly surprised" when he unlocked the door and she was gone.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/02/10/national/a114532S67.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0fAixCu3q

[Berry Cool]

1. Good Lord, I wonder if the poor girl's mother is still around.

And whether she can take her, or would be any better.

One thing's for sure, she needs not to go back to Dad and Stepmom ever.

[Sanity Claws]

2. So sad

:cry:

I hope she has a relative, someone, who cares about her.

[Bigmack]

3. Sad as this story is....

on first reading, I'll bet there's a lot worse to come.

That kind of abuse doesn't involve just one element.

Hang on to your hearts, folks. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.

[WI_DEM]

4. Some people shouldn't have kids.

[Hello_Kitty]

5. Bookmarking this.

For the next time some DUer barges on about how parenthood transforms everyone who does it into an altruistic saint.

[REP]

7. But you don't know how to love until you become a parent!

I think about those posts, too, when I see these stories.

I'm very impressed with the girl's resourcefulness in escaping and how she handled herself once she was free. I hope this is an indication that she can recover well from her ordeal and have a good life.

[Hello_Kitty]

8. I agree.

What's even more heartrending about these stories is that very often, and it appears to be the case here, there are multiple (sigh) children in the home but one child is targeted for the worst abuse.

[Bill McBlueState]

28. who said that?

People seriously think that? You'd have to be completely oblivious to the reality of child abuse.

[Maru Kitteh]

29. That poster doesn't think anyone should have kids.

[Hello_Kitty]

32. Care to provide a link to where I said that?

Well?

[virgogal]

6. Awful,just awful. I wonder why she didn't go to the police right

away? No criticism here,just curiosity.

[REP]

9. Maybe wanted to regain some autonomy?

Whatever it was, I think she was resourceful and I hope she does well.

[Chulanowa]

10. Because she was hungry and thirsty

If you're malnourished and dehydrated, the police are going to be #3 on your to-do list. Just saying.

[T Wolf]

11. Exactly. Young people think more linearly(?). She solved her problems in sequence,

starting with escaping.

This young woman showed INCREDIBLE courage and "maturity" in saving her own life. A daughter to be proud of.

Let's hope she is able to find some parents worth of her.

[NM_hemilover]

15. 13+ mile bike ride is higher on your list than a call to the cops ?

[KittyWampus]

18. giving up your parents to the police= not easy.

[NM_hemilover]

22. Like I responded down a bit,

we don't have kids, and haven't been one for a long time. The events of the story just lead me to believe there is more to be told.

The story will be fairly easy to keep track of, we live in NM but girlfriend's parrents still live in AZ. I'm always looking for a topic with her dad other than "when you gettin married".

[Chulanowa]

34. Yup.

#1 - GET THE FUCK AWAY
#2 - Feed myself
#3 - Call the cops

[BadgerKid]

25. At that point, survival mechanisms kick in.

And she's certainly thought about what to do *if* she ever got out.

[Control-Z]

26. She may have been

worried about whether the police would believe her and help. It would be horrifying for her to just be returned to her home.

[Broken_Hero]

12. Damn, what a

tragedy, I hope the girl gets the help she needs/deserves.

[enid602]

13. punished

Punished so harshly for cheating on a home-school test. Good God.

[NM_hemilover]

14. "concerned couple gave her $50 " but no ride or phone ?

Then rode 13 miles to a strip mall, then rode to a coffee shop in Scottsdale to call police ? Sounds odd, given how many stores and shops she would have to pass in a 13 mile ride to the strip mall, then on to the Scottsdale coffee shop?

There has got to be massive pieces of information missing from this.

[nonconformist]

16. 14 year olds aren't always the most logical creatures.

I have one myself, and he baffles me daily.

She might not have known really what to do at first.

[NM_hemilover]

19. I can buy that, we don't have kids, and haven't

been one for a long time. I'm not overly impressed with a couple giving a scared 14 year old girl 50 bucks and a "good luck". It just seems like there is more to be told.

[TrogL]

35. I'd put "get the fuck as far away from there as possible"

pretty high on my list.

She may have wanted to get completely out of the jurisdiction in case her father was friendly with the local police (eg. the all went to the same church).

[KittyWampus]

17. So proud of that young woman for being strong enough to escape.

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. Homeschooled

Sigh

[northofdenali]

21. Let's see -

"stolen food" - kept her hungry to keep her "in line"
"cheated on home-school test" - RW religious nutjobs, anyone?
"locked in bathroom" - ditto

Betcha they're just born-again Jaysus lovers.:sarcasm:

[azmouse]

23. These people are nuts.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2010/02/10/20100210abrk-girl-held-captive0210.html


The girl's treatment apparently did not begin at the house on Durango Street. The girl said her father and stepmother also forced her to live and sleep on their apartment patio in Glendale for five months, including the summer months, according to the documents. There, she told police she was locked inside a bathroom and a closet, each for one week. She was given only peanut butter sandwiches to eat and allowed to use the bathroom three times a day.

Andrea Bass told police she has a history with Child Protective Services, being involved in 15 previous reports, possibly in other states. She did not give police details, but the documents reported that California CPS had previously removed children from the family because of an alleged exorcism of a child.

The Basses were arrested on suspicion of unlawful imprisonment, kidnapping, failure to report a neglected minor and child abuse.

[Bobbieo]

24. At 14, apparently this young girl has gone through this before

and has trained herself to survive. What does the Arizona Republic say about this? The paper io no longer delivered here.

[applegrove]

27. How do you keep sickos from homeschooling their kids? Because nobody notices

when they get abused.

[Cleita]

30. Back in my school days, the Truman/Eisenhower years, any homeschooling

was done by certified teachers, not parents, like governesses and they had to answer to the school board. Everyone else went to school, either public or private (again answerable to the school board) or there was a truant officer sent after them. I know. My parents lived in South America nine months of the year and spent three months here, which happened to be winter and my summer break. (in SA summer was winter here). I had to go to school year round for most of my grammar school years because if I didn't when family was on summer/winter vacation up here in the states, the truant officer came after me. Back then I thought the system terribly unfair but now that I think about it, it worked in keeping track of kids and the situations they were living in.

[applegrove]

31. That is so true. I always heard about truant officers when I was a kid in

the 1970s but I never saw one. They should at least be doing spot checks on kids who are homeschooled. You know showing up unannounced several times a year.

[troubledamerican]

33. For every 1 you see, there are 100 more