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By Chuck Ring (GadaboutBlogalot ©2009 -2011
Quote Freely From The Article – Leave The Pseudonym Alone
Those victimized by the system, or by those practicing their trade of misery and mayhem, against those unable to care for themselves. The US edition of Reuters reported:
Three people were charged on Sunday with holding four mentally handicapped adults captive in a filthy Philadelphia basement, and two of the victims may have been held for as long as 11 years, authorities said.
The three men and one woman were likely victims of Social Security fraud, Philadelphia Police Sergeant Joseph Green said.
“They were abused physically and emotionally,” he said. “This is just a horror story.”
One of the persons arrested is reported to be a convicted murderer:
Arrested in the case was Linda Westen, 50, a convicted murderer, who allegedly held them captive while posing as their caregiver and cashing their disability checks, police said.
Westen and two alleged accomplices, a homeless man named Eddie Wright, 51, and Philadelphia resident Gregory Thomas, 48, were charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and other charges.
The four people were found confined in a small, dirty basement boiler room that contained a mattress with some bedding and a flat board with a pillow.
“There were a couple water bottles but no food or anything,” Green said. “There was a bucket they used to urinate in.”
I would think the first question might be: How something such as this have continued for 11 years? Simple, just as other of these sorts of incidents escape discovery, the laxity of the system and inattentiveness of lazy and/or unreliable employees is often the reason these schemes are late in being found out.
The rest of the story can be read by clicking here. Be sure to access any related article found below:
Related articles
- Four mentally disabled people found in Philadelphia ‘dungeon’ (telegraph.co.uk)
- Four mentally disabled people found in Philadelphia ‘dungeon’ – Telegraph.co.uk (news.google.com)
- Disabled adults found captive in Pa. basement (msnbc.msn.com)
- 3 charged for chaining 4 disabled adults (cbsnews.com)
- Mentally Disabled Adults Found Locked in Basement; Three Charged (abcnews.go.com)
- Monsters Among Us: 3 Arrested After 4 Mentally Disabled Adults Found Chained Behind Steel Door in Philadelphia Basement (autisminnb.blogspot.com)
- Three charged after four found chained in Philadelphia (philly.com)
- Janitor finds mentally disabled people chained in basement; 3 arrested (news.blogs.cnn.com)
