Tucson Police Department investigators and evidence technicians investigate the scene at a home where two people were arrested after three girls told authorities that they have been imprisoned for possibly the past two years. (Mike Christy / AP / )
TUCSON -- A couple faces multiple charges of abuse after three girls told police they had been imprisoned in their bedroom for up to two years in their southern Arizona home, authorities reported.
Tucson police said they arrested the girls' mother and stepfather Tuesday on suspicion of child abuse and imprisonment.
Officials reported that the sisters - ages 12, 13 and 17 - appeared 'extremely dirty' and told police they hadn't bathed in four to six months.
'They were kept in filthy living conditions and allegedly only being fed once a day,' Sgt. Chris Widner said in a statement.
The girls were discovered Tuesday morning after police responded to a home in midtown Tucson after receiving a domestic violence call that involved a knife.
When officers arrived, they found the two younger sisters, who had run to a neighbor's house, saying that their stepfather had attempted to break into their bedroom with a knife. That's when the two girls told authorities that they had been imprisoned in their bedrooms for at least the last several months and possibly up to a couple of years.
Officers also discovered the older sister in a different bedroom, still in the house, according to the statement.
The mother and stepfather were booked into Pima County Jail.
The stepfather, 34, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, emotional child abuse, physical child abuse and sexual abuse with a person under 15 years of age.
The mother, 32, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, emotional child abuse and physical child abuse.
ALSO: Judge denies O.J. Simpson a new trial Stormy weather makes Thanksgiving travel a slog Arizona to investigate why 6,000 child abuse reports were ignored cindy.carcamo@latimes.com
Twitter: @thecindycarcamo
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