"Teen Jane" BASS - 14 yo (2010) - Phoenix AZ

The parents of a 14-year-old Arizona girl who was victim to shocking abuse were arrested late Tuesday.

A young girl who escaped from her appalling living conditions says
her father and stepmother kept her locked in a room with no running
water for about two months.

It was apparently part of a punishment for stealing food.

While she was in "lock-up," the girl says her father gave her a few
cans of food, crackers and bread every one or two days -- but it wasn't
ever enough to satisfy her hunger.

The girl told police that while she was in lock up, she was forced
to exercise until exhaustion, beaten with belts and metal rods, and
pulled up by her hair if she stopped exercising.

The horror came to an end on January 24, when she escaped by
crawling up a linen closet, climbing into an attic crawl space, kicking
out a loose board and fleeing out the back door.

Someone called police for her and police were dispatched to the
victim's residence to speak with her father, Scott Bass, and stepmother
Andrea Bass.

The father, unaware that she was gone, allowed officers and Child
Protective Services into the home. There, officers found a bathroom
locked from the outside.

When officers opened the door, police say Bass was visibly surprised
to see it empty. Inside the room was a 5-gallon bucket with about 4
inches of urine, a blanket on the tile floor, and empty cans of food,
documents allege.

During questioning at the scene, Bass admitted to locking his
daughter in the bathroom as discipline for stealing food and cheating
in home school.

Further investigation found that the 14-year-old girl had been
forced to live and sleep outside on the patio during the summer, locked
in a closet for a week with no light, and locked in a bathroom for a
week. Police say that Andrea Bass acknowledged these facts, also
saying, she no longer wanted to have anything to do with [the victim].

Medical evaluation found that the girl was in the 25th percentile
for weight and in the 50th percentile for height, compared to other
girls her age.

Scott and Andrea Bass were arrested on Feb. 4 on the following
charges: unlawful imprisonment, kidnapping, failure to report neglect
of a minor, and child abuse.

The scene police stepped into at a southwest
Phoenix home recently was so bizarre that experienced officers were
stunned: in a boarded up bathroom were a bucket of urine, empty food
cans and a blanket that a 14-year-old girl told investigators doubled
as her bed.
The girl's allegation: that her father, Scott Bass, 33, and stepmother
Andrea Bass, 31, kept her locked inside the fetid prison for two months
while she was starved, beaten and forced to exercise. The girl escaped
Jan. 24 and eventually made her way to police.
Last week, Phoenix police arrested her parents on suspicion of
unlawful imprisonment, failure to report a neglected minor, kidnapping
and child abuse.
The girl and four other children living in the house - a 12-year-old
boy and three girls ages 3, 4 and 11 - have been placed in the custody
of Child Protective Services.
Court documents released this week contain detailed allegations that, if true,
paint a sordid picture of abuse and neglect. Medical evaluations, for example,
revealed that the teen was in the 25th percentile for her weight and 50th percentile for her height.
The parents, according to police, told the teenager she was being punished for being irresponsible and stealing food.
"It blew me away," said Officer Luis Samudio, a spokesman for the Police Department.
The records offer the following account, based on the girl's allegations:
She escaped from the bathroom by crawling through a linen closet,
into an attic crawl space, then kicking in a board to get back into the
living area of the house near 27th Avenue and Durango Street. She then
fled out the back door and rode away on her bicycle.
She rode her bike to a movie theater on Van Buren Street, where an
elderly couple gave her $50. She told police she bought food, water, a
backpack and new clothes - the first time she had changed in two weeks.

She eventually made her way to Scottsdale, where a Starbucks employee called police for her.
When police went to her home, the girl's father was visibly
surprised that his daughter had been missing. Inside the bathroom, they
found a few personal belongings scattered on the ground, including a
pair of shoes.
The only window was boarded up with plywood.
Bass, who works for a temporary agency, told police that he locked
the girl up as discipline for "stealing" food from the kitchen and
cheating on a home-school test and that his daughter had been
"grounded" on and off since Christmas.
Andrea Bass, who police said worked as a massage therapist
from home, denied locking the child up, but told investigators the teen
had not eaten nor participated with the family for the past three
months. She said her husband boarded the bathroom window in order to
keep the girl from escaping.
She told police she no longer wanted anything to do with her stepdaughter.
Samudio described other punishments: the home-schooled teen was made to run, do push-ups, leg lifts
and scissor kicks. She told police she was beaten with a belt or metal
rod or held up by her hair if she stopped the exercises. Her meals were
crackers, bread and canned food given once every few days. She had to
urinate into the bucket; the bathroom had no running water.
The girl told police that when the family previously lived in Glendale, she had been forced to live and sleep on her family's
patio for five months, including the summer months. There, she alleged,
she was locked in a bathroom and a closet, each for one week. She was
given only peanut-butter sandwiches to eat and allowed to use the
bathroom three times a day.
Andrea Bass told investigators
she has a history with Child Protective Services and has been involved
in 15 previous reports, possibly in other states. She did not offer
police details, but court documents reported that California CPS had
previously removed children from the family because of a child's
reported exorcism.
The Basses are awaiting formal charges. Police said the girl's biological mother has not yet been located.

A 14-year-old Phoenix girl, malnourished and fed only every day or two,
sat locked in a bathroom next to a 5-gallon bucket containing human
waste for two months, until she escaped through an attic, according to
police.


Photo: Scott Bass' mugshot.


Authorities say the teen was also beaten with rods and belts and
pulled by the hair when she couldn't withstand the exercises her
father, Scott Bass, forced her to do. Bass told investigators he locked
his daughter in the bathroom because she stole food from the kitchen
and cheated on a home-school test.

The father and stepmother have both been arrested.



Photo: Andrea Bass' mugshot.


Scott Bass, 33, and stepmother Andrea Bass, 31, were arrested Feb.
4 for investigation of child abuse, kidnapping and unlawful
imprisonment. Andrea Bass was released Tuesday after posting a $36,000
bond. She told investigators she didn't know the girl was locked in the
bathroom.


The teen told police her father gave her crackers or maybe a can of
food every day or two. She used a blanket on the floor as her bed.

After escaping, she fled her house on her bike, and at a nearby
movie theater a concerned couple gave her $50. She then rode 13 miles
to a Phoenix strip mall where she bought water, food, a backpack and
clothes.

After that, the girl rode to a coffee shop in Scottsdale, where she asked an employee to call police.


When police arrived at the Bass house, her father was "visibly
surprised" when he unlocked the bathroom door and her daughter was
gone.


The Phoenix girl told police that at a previous home she was forced
to sleep on an outdoor patio for five months, locked in a closet for a
week and locked in a bathroom for a week. She is now in the custody of
Child Protective Services.

The four other children living in the Bass home showed no signs of abuse, officials said.

A 14 year-old valley girl, travels more than
a dozen miles, after escaping a bathroom where she was being held for
nearly 2 months. Police have now released the 911 call made to police
the day she escaped. Court papers also show the girl was fed
only once every two days, and she was forced to exercise to the point
of exhaustion by her father Scott Bass, and her stepmother Andrea Bass. The
reports show investigators have interviewed all seven members of the
Bass family, which includes both parents, the victim and four other
children. The reports says the 14 year-old victim told police
that she was fed a few cans of beans, green beans, corn and cold
chicken soup every few days. After being locked in the
dilapidated bathroom for two months, the young victim says she had
enough. She climbed into the attic, out of the house, and then was able
to ride her bike to get some help. Police say when they first
made contact with the victim, she appeared to be "very underweight".
The officer could smell a "foul odor", implying that she hadn't
showered in quite some time. The 14 year-old victim then told
police, "I hate it and I want to get out. I'm scared my dad is going to
kill me when he sees me." When officers arrived at the home near
28th Avenue and Durango, the girl's father Scott Bass thought the
victim was still in the bathroom. Police say he had no idea she was
gone. After a search of the house, an officer found the locked
bathroom and attempted to enter. Once inside, the reports states that
officers found a bucket with feces and urine in it. The girl
also told police that her father made her do sit ups, push ups and
sometimes made her run around the house until she was sick. She says he
wouldn't let her eat until she finished. According to the
family, all of this punishment was because the victim was caught
stealing food and cheating on a home school test. The victim's
father, Scott Bass, remains in jail. Her step-mother, 31 year-old
Andrea Bass, was released on bail earlier in the week. The other 4 children in that home were placed in CPS custody.

As the parents of a 14-year-old Phoenix girl pleaded not guilty to
charges of child abuse and kidnapping Monday morning, new details have
emerged surrounding the suspected imprisonment of their daughter.
The couple was indicted by a grand jury last week on three counts of
child abuse and one count of kidnapping. They pleaded not guilty to all
the charges in the Maricopa County Superior Court arraignment Monday.According to the police report filed following the arrest of Scott
Bass, 33, and Andrea Bass, 31, the teenage girl, who was
5-foot-8-inches tall, was only 90 pounds when she left the home.
The Basses are suspected of keeping their daughter locked in a
bathroom for two months with no running water, feeding her canned food
once every few days, forcing her to exercise and beating her when she
became too exhausted.
In his report, Phoenix Police officer Vincent Lavia reported that the 14-year-old girl would hysterically cry
whenever she thought of returning to her parents' house. According to
the officer, her living conditions "were barely suitable for an animal."
Police interviews with the 14-year-old girl, the parents and other
children in the Bass home - including an 11-year-old girl - revealed a
history of family tension.
The 14-year-old said her father once spent a night in jail for
domestic violence against Andrea, according to the report. The girl
said she hasn't seen her biological mother, Treasure Adams, since she
was 8 years old.
She said Andrea Bass' appearance in her life five years ago felt
like her "world turning upside down." She told police Andrea Bass, who
gave piano lessons and massages from home and taught toddler classes as a volunteer at the YMCA, turned her father against her.
Scott Bass said his daughter was only being disciplined for bad behavior - behavior sparked by the family's move from their apartment in Glendale to a house in Phoenix, near 27th Avenue and Durango Street.
He said he gave his daughter a bucket to urinate and defecate in
because he was fed up with attempting to talk to her. He said living in
seclusion was her choice.
Andrea Bass, Scott's wife
of five years, said Scott Bass tried to kill himself after Child
Protective Services took his five children away prior to his arrest.
She told police that she alone had been involved in at least 15 prior
reports with CPS.
At the time of Scott and Andrea's arrest, police did not believe the
other children in the house - ages 3, 4, 11 and 12 - had been abused.
The 14-year-old told police the other children were emotionally abusive
toward her.
When the girl's younger sister, 11, was asked if she cared about her
older sister, the girl told police, "In certain situations, no." The
11-year-old said she didn't know what happened behind her sister's
locked bathroom door. She said she never saw her older sister exercise
with her parents, but she knew she did because the Basses were,
according to the police document, a "healthy family."
The 11-year-old, however, admitted that she has lied to social worker before. She said she knew what it felt like to be locked in the bathroom.
Scott and Andrea Bass will have their next court date on April 6.

Bad Dads
Scott Bass, Father Who Kept 14-Year-Old Daughter Locked in Bathroom For Months as Punishment For "Stealing" Food, Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

Dec. 14 2011 at 3:17 PM

A Phoenix man who pleaded guilty to charges that he locked his 14-year-old daughter in a bathroom for months, barely fed her, and forced her to exercise until exhaustion, was sentenced to 15 years in prison this morning.

Additionally, Scott Bass, 31, was sentenced to lifetime probation by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Paul McMurdie.

In January 2010, Bass' daughter escaped from the bathroom she'd been locked in for more than two months by crawling through a linen closet, climbing into an attic crawl space, kicking out a loose board, and running out the back door.

The girl then rode a bike to a coffee shop, where employees called police.

When police got to Bass' house, he and his wife -- the girl's stepmother, Andrea Bass, who was also charged with crimes for abusing the girl -- allowed them in for questioning. When police opened the bathroom door, which was locked from the outside, the Basses were shocked to see the girl not there.

Instead, they found a bucket full of urine, a blanket, and some empty cans of food.

It was later revealed that the couple forced the girl to exercise until exhaustion, beat her with belts and metal rods, and pulled her up by her hair if she stopped exercising.

The reason for the abuse: punishment for "stealing" food from her parents (click here to read the heartbreaking story of another Valley girl, Ame Deal, 10, who died earlier this year when family members stuffed her into a tiny footlocker because she, like victim in this case, "stole" food).

The girl later told police she was given food -- crackers, bread, and some canned foods -- every few days, hardly enough to sustain the body of a teenager..

Police later discovered that the girl was often forced to sleep outside in the summer, and locked in a dark closet.

Under questioning by police, Andrea Bass admitted to abusing the girl, adding that she no longer wanted anything to do with her.

After the Basses were arrested, four other children were removed from the home by Child Protective Services.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/12/scott_bass_father_who_kept_14-.php