"Modern Day Slavery" Update: Three plead not guilty to holding mother, child captive in Ohio

(AP) CLEVELAND - Three people accused of enslaving a mentally disabled Ohio woman and her daughter, and beating the woman and stealing her pain medication, have pleaded not guilty. 

PICTURES: 4 accused of holding mother, child captive in Ohio

The defendants are charged with targeting and recruiting the woman in 2010 and holding her until October in a house in Ashland, 80 miles northeast of Columbus.

Jodie Callahan, Jessica Hunt and Dezerah Silsby entered the pleas Tuesday in federal court in Cleveland. The attorney for a fourth defendant, Daniel Brown, has said his client plans to plead guilty.

An indictment against Callahan, Hunt and Silsby alleges the woman was denied food, sexually assaulted and threatened with dogs and snakes.

Callahan's mother, Becky Callahan, has said the allegations are "all lies."

Complete coverage of the alleged "modern-day slavery" case on Crimesider