4 accused of kidnapping teen girl, keeping her in basement "torture chamber"
WORCESTER, Mass. -- Four Massachusetts residents have been charged with keeping a 16-year-old girl in a basement that a police officer described as a "torture chamber."
Police say the teenager was sexually assaulted, had her hair shaved off and was burned with a cigarette in the two-day ordeal last month.
The suspects are charged with kidnapping and other offenses. They appeared in a hearing Wednesday to determine whether they can be held without bail.
Prosecutors say the suspects held the girl in an Auburn home because they thought she orchestrated a Dec. 27 home invasion. An Auburn police detective testified two of the suspects had picked the girl up in Leominster, but didn't say how they knew each other, reports the Boston Herald.
Prosecutors say the victim was duct-taped to a chair and had a machete held against her throat at the direction of defendant Krystal Lugo, 23, reports the Herald.
Auburn Officer George Vranos was emotional as he testified that the semi-finished basement room where the crime happened looked like a "torture chamber, which looked like an interrogation room," the paper reports.
Lugo's 19-year-old brother, Christopher Lugo, her boyfriend, Yariel Torres-Abee, 22, of Southboro, and Yuleny Ortiz, 19, of Auburn, face kidnapping and assault charges, the Herald reports, and Christopher Lugo is also charged with rape.
The victim said Christopher Lugo told her she was drugged with marijuana laced with Xanax and was sexually assaulted by multiple people on Christmas Day, an Auburn detective testified, reports the Herald. The victim reportedly said Krystal Lugo threatened to kill the victim and her family if she spoke to police.
Lugo was held without bail. Her attorney said she was not a danger. The hearings for three other defendants will continue until Friday.
