The mother of three girls, who police say were held captive in their north-side home, had previously lost custody of two of her daughters, according to court documents.
Sophia Leeann Richter, 32, eventually regained custody, but on Tuesday, the girls again were removed from her home. This time by police who said Richter and her husband, Fernando Hernandez Richter, 34, abused the girls psychologically and physically.
The suspected abuse was revealed when two of the girls escaped their home and ran to a neighbor’s house for help.
Chief Roberto Villaseñor said at a Wednesday morning press conference, that detectives are trying to sort through a complicated, but believe girls claims that they were held captive and abused.
Two of the girls, ages 12 and 13, fled their home at about 4 a.m. Tuesday after they said their stepfather broke into their room and threatened them with a knife. The neighbor called 911 and officers found a third girl, 17, still locked in a bedroom.
Though the girls could lock their rooms from the inside, they were not allowed to leave, they told investigators, who found the bedroom doors wired from the outside with security alarms.
They also found surveillance cameras inside the home, Villaseñor said. The bedrooms also were crudely soundproofed against loud music piped into at least one of the bedrooms where the girls were held. Officers found towels stuffed under the doors and ductwork sealed.
Individual interviews with the girls, conditions in the home and a journal kept for 18 months by the older girl seem to support evidence that the girls were kept captive and abused, Villaseñor said.
The girls were filthy and malnourished and were not allowed to leave their bedrooms for meals or to use the bathroom, he said.
The Richters face three counts each of kidnapping, emotional child abuse and physical child abuse. Fernando Richter also faces one count of sexual abuse with a person under 15 years old.
Sophia Richter was granted custody following the May 2003 divorce from the father of the two younger girls. But by December, the custody agreement was modified, giving the father sole custody, documents from Pima County Superior Court state.
A request for information from the Child Protective Services was denied based on confidentiality statutes, however, a 2005 letter from CPS included with custody documents filed with the court shows the agency was in contact with the family. The letter, sent to the father of the two younger girls, states that allegations of physical abuse made against him by his ex-wife were unsubstantiated. The letter also suggested one of the girls “could benefit from some type of counseling to help her through some of her feelings.”
By 2006, when Richter filed to regain custody, the two younger girls were living primarily with their paternal grandparents, and primarily Richter’s mother, grandmother and sister were raising her older daughter, documents state.
In July 2006, affidavits were filed in Superior Court by the younger girls’ paternal grandparents who were opposed to restoring custody to their mother.
In the affidavits, the paternal grandparents said they had, in large part, been caring for the girls since their mother lost custody. Under their care, the couple said, the girls were well cared for, thriving in school and benefiting from a stable home-life.
The couple also expressed concern for Sophia Richter’s oldest daughter, who, according to the affidavits, was being cared for by Richter’s mother, grandmother and sister.
“Sophia isn’t providing a healthy stable home for any of her children,” the paternal grandmother wrote.
Both girls told their grandparents that Fernando Richter was verbally abusive to their mother, the affidavits stated.
In the affidavits, the grandmother also provided a detailed list of dates Sophia Richter failed to show up for visitation with her daughters.
The records are incomplete, however between mid-2006 and 2009 Richter regained custody of the girls and sought child support for all three from her ex-husband.
According to the affidavits and court documents, Sophia Richter and Fernando Richter have been dating since 2003 and wed in 2010.
At the press conference Wednesday Villaseñor said Sophia Richter made a statement to police and told them her children were home-schooled, but declined to discuss other aspects of her statement.
Sophia Richter has no previous record of arrest in Tucson and Pima County.
Earlier Wednesday Tucson police released a booking photo of Fernando Richter was arrested in March 2012 in connection with disorderly conduct, assault and criminal damage, however the court dismissed all of those charges.
As part of the 2012 case, the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona (CPSA), according to online court documents, did a review. The results of the CPSA review are not disclosed in the online information, however, the agency is a non-profit that “contracts with behavioral health agencies in Pima County to provide mental health and substance use treatment services for eligible individuals,” according to its website.
In October 2007 Fernando Richter plead guilty to driving under the influence.
