Homeschooling’s 

Invisible Children

3 Children by Timothy and Esten Ciboro

Content note: Case narratives include descriptions of severe violence inflicted on children, including abuse and neglect, sexual violence, torture, and murder, as well as mentions of suicide and domestic violence. They also include photos of victims and perpetrators of violence.

timothy and esten ciboro
A 13-year-old girl was starved, imprisoned, and sexually abused by her stepfather, Timothy Ciboro, and his son, Esten Ciboro. The girl’s 9-year-old sister was also sexually abused. The girls and their 10-year-old brother were homeschooled.

The children were placed with the Ciboros by child services after their mother moved away. Social workers examined the 13-year-old girl in 2014 after neighbors reported seeing her eating out of the trash, but she was not found to be malnourished. Sometime before May 2015, as punishment for bedwetting, the 13-year-old girl was chained by the ankle to a support beam in the Ciboros’ basement, where she was fed rotten food and forced to use a bucket for a toilet. Timothy Ciboro, a former firefighter, was reportedly religious and the family had strict rules against eating fast food. Timothy raped both the 13-year-old girl and the 9-year-old girl; Esten raped the 13-year-old girl.

The abuse came to light when the 13-year-old girl used a spare key she had hidden to escape while the Ciboros were out of the house. A neighbor spotted her as she was running away and called the police. The Ciboros were arrested shortly thereafter and charged with rape, child endangerment, torture, and kidnapping.

Date: May 19, 2016
Location:
Toledo, Ohio

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Documents: Date:
Ohio man and son kept 13-year-old stepdaughter shackled in the basement for almost a year 05-19-2016
Father, son accused of kidnapping 13-year-old girl 05-19-2016
Officials: Girl says she was shackled, held captive for a year 05-19-2016
Father, son arrested after 13-year-old girl claims she was held captive for a year 05-19-2016
Ciboro men face rape charges 09-30-2016
Ciboros claim Bible essential to their defense 01-21-2017
Father and son accused of imprisoning and sexually abusing the same teenage girl say they will use Bible Scripture and ‘God’s holy word’ to defend themselves in court 01-23-2017