Modern-Day Slavery": Four accused of holding mother, child captive for 2 years

(CBS) ASHLAND, Ohio - Four people have been arrested and are accused of holding a mother and her child captive for two years in Ashland, Ohio, in what the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio called a case of "modern-day slavery," CBS affiliate WOIO reports.

According to the charges, the suspects beat the victims and held them captive under death threats and threats of attacks from pit bulls and large snakes, the station reports.

The suspects are also accused of forcing the mother, who has a cognitive disability that leaves her with the mental capacity of a 13 to 14-year-old girl, to do laundry, clean the house and perform yard work.

She and her child were, at times, not allowed to eat and were forced to sleep in a padlocked room on a cement floor, the station reports.

Investigators reportedly say the suspects also forced the mother to hit her child while they videotaped it. They claimed they would show it to the police if she ever left, according to the station.