WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Couple Accused Of Torturing Teen

Couple Accused Of Torturing Teen

(GARY, Ind., September 30th, 2003, 10 a.m.) -- A couple tortured the woman's 18-year-old daughter by shocking her with electrical cables, beating her and burning her with cigarettes, Lake County police said.

Keith Erik Jax, 36, and Marie Christine Jax, 46, each could face more than 100 years in prison if convicted on felony charges of criminal deviate conduct, battery and neglect.

Each was being held on $135,000 bond Tuesday in the Lake County Jail.

Police went to the house in Calumet Township just outside Gary last Wednesday after a telephone operator reported receiving a call from the home and hearing screams in the background.

Officer Luis Garcia heard screaming from inside the house when he arrived, and the young woman ran outside and asked for help as he approached, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by
county police.

The teenager, who formerly lived in California, told police her mother and stepfather had kept her locked in a room in the basement for long periods since she came to live with them last month.

She said Keith and Marie Jax beat her, burned her ears, neck, arms and chest with cigarettes and shocked her with electrical wires placed on her toes, ears, head and genitals, according to the affidavit. The couple also allegedly forced her to eat cigarettes until she vomited.

Police said the teenager's face was swollen and there were burns on her body. Investigators found in the basement a battery charger and electrical cord allegedly used to shock the woman, police said.

Officers also found a fireplace poker. A man who was staying with the family told police he had seen Marie Jax use the poker to sexually molest the teen.

The couple told police they kept the girl locked up because she was a runaway who mutilated herself, according to the affidavit filed in a Lake County court. The teenager told police that Marie Jax had accused her of having "an evil inside her."

The teenager told police the couple also discussed killing her and reporting that she committed suicide.

The teen was placed in a shelter for abused women, and the Child Protective Services agency removed the couple's children, ages 10, 9 and 6, from the home.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)