A 14-year-old girl was physically and sexually abused by her father, Rene Tibucio Valenzuela, and locked in a small, dark empty bedroom for 15 months. The girl was only let out of the room for brief bathroom and meal breaks, and was occasionally allowed to shower. The girl escaped in 2005 by kicking in the bedroom door when she knew her family was away. She ran two miles to an apartment complex where her family used to live and found an old friend, whose family called 911. The girl lived with her father and his girlfriend, and two younger sisters, aged, 8 and 10, who did not appear to have been abused. The girl herself was severely malnourished. Past child abuse reports, the last in 2001, were unsubstantiated. The girl had been homeschooled since 2002, when Valenzuela withdrew her from public school and told school officials he was going to homeschool her.
Date: February 2005
Location: Tucson, Arizona
| Documents: | Date: |
| Man guilty of 11 charges in captive girl abuse case | 2006-04-28 |
