A US couple has been convicted of enslaving a mentally disabled woman for two years through intimidation, abuse and threats they would harm her young child.
Jordie Callahan and his girlfriend Jessica Hunt were convicted by jurors in federal court in the state of Ohio a day after their lawyers argued prosecutors had built their case around unreliable witnesses.
But prosecutors said the couple kept the woman and her daughter, who was under age five, in a damp, dark basement with a lock on the door and no bathroom.
They also threatened both with a python and pit bulls and forced the woman to shop, cook, clean up after their dogs and do other household chores, said assistant US Attorney Chelsea Rice.
Prosecutors said the woman also was forced to engage in sexual acts.
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Callahan, 27, and Hunt, 32, were convicted on charges that included forced labour conspiracy with a kidnapping specification and could be sentenced to as much as life in prison.
Both were found not guilty of stealing the woman's government benefits and tampering with a witness.
"There were a lot of horrific allegations made by the government in this case that we do not believe were supported by the evidence," said Ed Bryan, Hunt's lawyer.
Callahan's lawyer, Donald Butler, said he hopes to appeal.
Prosecutors said the woman's ordeal lasted from early 2011 to late 2012.
Police in the northern Ohio town of Ashland first got involved when the woman was arrested on a candy bar shoplifting case and asked to be jailed because people had been mean to her.
