CHICAGO, Illinois -- A suburban Chicago couple faces abuse and neglect charges after allegedly locking their disabled teenage daughter in a squalid bedroom for at least two years.
The Chicago Tribune reports 59-year-old Charles Hopkins III and his longtime girlfriend, 38-year-old Marinda Y. Hicks, made an initial appearance Saturday in Cook County court.
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Authorities say the Blue Island couple's 18-year-old daughter, who has the mental capacity of a small child, slept on a soiled mattress and was fed through the bars of a gate.
Prosecutors say a portable toilet was installed in her room, but it was only emptied every four or five days.
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Hopkins' private attorney Elliot Zingger says that there was "a lot more to the story" than what prosecutors claimed. He also noted that his client lacks a criminal record.
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