EDMONTON (Sun Media) - An allegedly tortured four-year-old girl was "hysterical" about basements due to being handcuffed by her feet, having soap put in her mouth and forced to have sex.
That is what the trial of the child's mother and stepfather heard yesterday during testimony by a foster mother.
"She was pleading with me to not take her down there," said Diane LaRose, referring to an incident where she was bringing the girl to her basement to do laundry.
"She was very scared," said LaRose. "She would tell me she would have sex in the basement and that was when she would scream and soap was put in her mouth."
The former foster mom testified the Edmonton girl told her she used to be handcuffed to a box she called her "cage".
LaRose said the girl once saw a cat in a carrier and exclaimed the kitty has a cage like hers, "but mine is bigger."
LaRose told court the child disclosed that her stepfather had sex with her and her mother would say it was OK.
"She said if she didn't want to have sex, she would get the soap in the mouth, or if she screamed, her mommy would give her the belt or smack her," said LaRose.
The foster mother testified the girl would always say: "No more foot locks, no more soap in my mouth, no more sex."
On Wednesday, LaRose told court the child used to suggest she join her in the bathtub and have sex.
"She told me I was going to be the dad and we were going to have sex in the bathtub," said LaRose, adding the girl also described specific sexual acts they were going to do.
Court has heard the girl has been diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The Court of Queen's Bench trial has earlier heard eyewitness accounts describing the child being handcuffed to a box and made to stand on it, being punched and slapped by her parents and being deprived of water.
One witness testified the girl was always thirsty because she was rationed drinks due to wetting the bed, and said she saw her sprayed with a water bottle and taunted with not getting her milk if she didn't eat her food.
The woman said the girl was so desperate for something to drink that she once drank a mixture of Miracle-Gro liquid fertilizer and water used for the Christmas tree.
There has also been evidence of the girl drinking her own urine, being forced to sit with her stepdad on the couch while he watched porn, and dancing "like a stripper."
The 22-year-old mother and 25-year-old stepfather each face multiple charges, including ones for sexual offences, assault causing bodily harm, pot growing, unlawful confinement and causing a child to need protective services.
They cannot be named to protect the identity of the child.
I'm still partial to impaling as a way of execution. Nothing like a sharp stake placed on the rectum, having said violator raised into the air on said stake, and then letting gravity do the rest. 