"Modern-Day Slavery": Four accused of holding mother, child captive for 2 years in Ohio, report says

(CBS) ASHLAND, Ohio - Four people have been arrested and are accused of holding a mother and her child captive for two years in Ashland, Ohio, in what the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio called a case of "modern-day slavery," CBS affiliate WOIO reports.

According to the charges, the suspects beat the victims and held them captive under death threats and threats of attacks from pit bulls and large snakes, the station reports.

The suspects are also accused of forcing the mother, who has a cognitive disability that leaves her with the mental capacity of a 13 to 14-year-old girl, to do laundry, clean the house and perform yard work.

She and her child were, at times, not allowed to eat and were forced to sleep in a padlocked room on a cement floor, the station reports.

Investigators reportedly say the suspects also forced the mother to hit her child while they videotaped it. They claimed they would show it to the police if she ever left, according to the station.

Jordie Callahan, 26, Jessica Hunt, 31, and Daniel J. Brown, 33, all of Ashland, are named in the charges, Cleveland.com reports. It is unclear why the fourth person charged has not been named.

In October of 2012, the mother reportedly intentionally stole a candy bar from a Family Dollar store so that she would be arrested. During an interview with police, she told them that the people at the house were mean, according to the station. An investigation was ultimately launched and officials conducted a raid at the Ashland home on Tuesday.

Officials say the woman and her child are now recovering.

The suspects are to be arraigned in Federal Court later Tuesday.