4 charged after N.J. teen allegedly held in basement ‘torture chamber’

By Rebecca Everett reverett@njadvancemedia.com|

Four people in Massachusetts are facing serious charges after police say they kept a 16-year-old girl from New Jersey tied up in their freezing basement, where they shaved her head, burned and beat her.

Police rescued the girl from the Auburn house on Dec. 28 after receiving a tip that she was being held there, according to court documents obtained by MassLive.com.

MassLive.com reported that the four defendants were all deemed too dangerous to release from jail by a Worcester District Court judge Jan. 5. They are siblings Krystal Lugo, 23, and Christopher Lugo, 19, and friends Yariel Torres-Abee, 22, and Yuleny Ortiz, 19.

Auburn police have not released much information on the girl, including her hometown, and did not return calls Tuesday. The search warrant affidavit authored by Det. James R. Lyman Jr., says she told a detective she was a runaway from New Jersey and had been in Massachusetts for about six weeks.

The affidavit shows the girl told police a harrowing story of being drugged and sexually assaulted on Christmas, and the following day, after the defendants blamed her for a home invasion, tied up and beaten.

It isn’t clear if or how she knew the four defendants before Christmas morning. She told police a friend she knew picked her up, with Ortiz and another female in the car. She said they gave her 3 1/2 Xanax pills and then a “cigar blunt.” She said Christopher Lugo told her later the blunt was also laced with Xanax, because Ortiz and the other female wanted to drug her and have sex with her, Lyman wrote in the affidavit.

Source: NJ.com

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