A Phoenix couple have been arrested in a shocking case of child abuse against their 10-year-old daughter, who was allegedly sexually assaulted, waterboarded, burned, severely beaten and forced to take drugs.
Keola Wimbish, 39, and Chloe Sergent, 26, were arrested in Glendale on Tuesday and charged with felony abuse, which allegedly started in December 2020, according to KTAR.
The girl is reportedly Sergent’s daughter and Wimbish’s stepdaughter.
She told investigators that Wimbish held her head under water, like being waterboarded, and set her on fire by igniting alcohol while they were staying with a relative, azfamily.com reported.
She also accused him of sexually abusing her and hitting her with several weapons, according to the outlet, which cited court documents.
The girl said the abuse began when her stepfather had his ankle monitor removed. It was unclear why he had been made to wear the device.
The victim also alleged that Sergent broke her nose and burned her leg, and that the suspects forced her to do drugs from a straw, officials said.
She told investigators that another relative also hit her several times with a crowbar and struck her with a machete “in multiple areas of her body.”
When police interviewed the relative, he told them he had never abused the girl, but had seen Wimbish and Sergent hit her, according to the court documents.
Another family member told investigators she had seen the girl with her legs bandaged and said she had walked “hunched over.”
Doctors said in December the girl had 12 broken bones, a deep cut that exposed her shinbone, and multiple other injuries. They also said she was malnourished.
Both Wimbish and Sergent, who are being held on $50,000 bond each, told investigators they didn’t know how the girl was hurt or the wide extent of her injuries.
