Ohio 13-year-old's stepfather and stepbrother charged for keeping her chained in a basement for a year

The stepfather and stepbrother of a Toledo, Ohio, girl were arrested on kidnapping charges on Thursday for keeping the 13-year-old captive and chained in their basement for as long as a year until she managed to escape, officials said.

The stepfather, Timothy Ciboro, 53, a former Toledo firefighter, and the girl's stepbrother, Esten Ciboro, 27, were each charged with kidnapping and endangering children, Toledo police spokesman Lieutenant Joseph Heffernan said.

They were ordered held in jail in lieu of bonds set at $500,000 each, the Toledo Blade newspaper reported.

Heffernan said the girl told authorities she had been shackled by the ankle to a support beam in their basement for as long as a year and fed spoiled and old scraps of food.

The girl managed to unshackle herself and escape by using a spare key she had found and kept hidden until she could make her move one night while her stepfather and stepbrother were out of the house, Heffernan said.

Heffernan said police found handcuffs chained to a beam and an ammonia-filled bucket that the girl said she used as a toilet.

Robin Reese, executive director of Lucas County Children Services, told a news conference, "I wouldn't say she was malnourished, but her hygiene is questionable."

Aside from the 13-year-old, two other children, ages 8 and 10, were in the house. All three were put into foster care, Reese said.

The children have the same mother, Heffernan said, adding that Timothy Ciboro is the biological father of Esten Ciboro and the 8 and 10 year olds.

The Toledo Blade quoted the girl as telling a neighbor who found her in the streets after her escape that she had been taken in by her stepfather after her mother left her and her siblings to go to Las Vegas.

She said her stepfather kept her chained in the basement because she wet her bed, the paper reported.

Police said the kidnapping charges came from the girl being held captive against her will. Police are investigating whether the other two children were also held against their will, Heffernan said.

The children services agency, which is also investigating the case, last had contact with the family in 2014, when one of the children was seen eating discarded French fries from a garbage can in a park, Reese said. Officials investigated and did not find malnourished children, she said.

"This family has been under the radar of the community," Reese said. "Part of what we have to find out is how and why."

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales; Editing by Sandra Maler)