12-year-old faced ‘evil and torment’ by dad, his girlfriend before death, officials say
A 12-year-old girl died after officials said she was subjected to months of torment. Now two people have been arrested.
On May 4, 52-year-old Rendell Hoagland reported to 911 that his 12-year-old daughter, Malinda Hoagland, was unconscious and not responding, Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said at a May 7 news conference streamed by WPVI.
“Shockingly, they found a 12-year-old girl who was broken and barely alive,” de Barrena-Sarobe said.
Malinda was taken to a hospital, where medical staff found her covered in bruises, de Barrena-Sarobe said. She had half a dozen broken bones, her organs were failing and she weighed 50 pounds, de Barrena-Sarobe said.
Malinda died while being treated.
Through their investigation, de Barrena-Sarobe said officials uncovered that Hoagland and his girlfriend Cindy Warren subjected Malinda to “evil and torment that no child should ever have to endure, and they did it for months.”
De Barrena-Sarobe said Malinda had been removed from her middle school sometime in late November or early December and placed into an online home school program. He said although Malinda had to appear on camera for school, it was impossible for anyone to have knowledge of what was happening to her.
As officials continued to investigate, they uncovered a cell phone used by Hoagland and Warren with dozens of videos on it showing Malinda being abused over the course of months, de Barrena-Sarobe said. In some videos one could see Malinda’s ankles shackled to furniture and hear her being berated, according to de Barrena-Sarobe.
She was also forced to perform strenuous physical exercises while she was shackled as punishment, de Barrena-Sarobe said. In other cases, food was withheld from her for days as punishment, de Barrena-Sarobe said. She had a bedroom, but at times would be shackled in the basement, he said.
“I think we’ve all asked ourselves over the past few days, like, when the last time Malinda was ever loved. So, it’s an awful thing to think about,” de Barrena-Sarobe said.
De Barrena-Sarobe said that after Malinda was withdrawn from her school, she had very limited access to the outside world.
Another 9-year-old child also resided in the home, but was “very well treated” and unharmed, de Barrena-Sarobe said. He said the home was also in good condition.
“There are no answers that make sense,” he said. “It’s a reminder that there is evil in this world.”
Hoagland and Warren are charged with attempted murder, and both were arrested May 7 and given a $1 million cash bail. De Barrena-Sarobe said officials are waiting to review medical reports, at which time they will decide if they will charge the two with murder.
In addition, the two are charged with aggravated assault of a child, kidnapping and other charges.
Attorney information for Hoagland and Warren was not available in court records.
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