Starved, sexually abused, kept in basement: Teen's horror revealed

It's a case that has the nation asking: How could this happen?

Police say a 15-year-old girl was kept for years in a Madison, Wis., basement, beaten and starved by a father and stepmother who often forced her to eat her own feces and drink her own urine. And, they say, her stepbrother had been sexually abusing her in the cellar since she was just 10  years old.

Moreover, it appears that child protective services had repeatedly been called to the home or otherwise alerted to something amiss.

On Thursday, the girl's father, Chad C. Chritton, 40, and stepmother, Melinda J. Drabek-Chritton, 42, were charged with reckless endangerment, child abuse and child neglect, according to the Madison State Journal. The girl's stepbrother, Joshua P. Drabek, 18, was charged with sexual assault and child abuse, the newspaper reported.

The girl, whose name is not being released, is in protective custody. Two other children have  been removed from the home, although there were no immediate reports on their condition.

The girl, who escaped this month, told law enforcement authorities that she had been virtually trapped in the unfinished basement. Video equipment was trained on the cellar door, and it was rigged with an alarm that would go off if it opened, according to a police affidavit obtained by the Associated Press. The girl said that if she was caught eating without permission, she would have to throw out -- or throw up -- the food as punishment.

On Feb. 6, the day she escaped, she had been let out of the basement by her stepmother so she could clean up some papers. When the girl did not do so quickly enough, the stepmother threatened to cut her throat and throw her back in the basement. Fearful of what would happen next, the girl said, she escaped out a window, according to Madison.com

The 15-year-old was wandering the streets of Madison, barefoot and in her pajamas, when she was spotted by motorist Mike Vega, above. He stopped the car. Instinctively, he knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. She was so slight -- authorities later said she weighed about 70 pounds --  that he initially took her for an 8-year-old. The girl was bleeding from a gash on her face.

Vega called police.

"It was the most shocking thing I have ever seen," he told Madison.com. "I've never seen anybody look like that."

But the horror of what had happened to the girl was only just beginning to reveal itself.

A neighbor next door and another across the street each said they had called child protective services after catching a glimpse of the rarely seen girl -- and suspecting something was wrong. One of the neighbors, Mark Stuntebeck, said he made the call after watching the girl take out the garbage and then scavenge through it for food.

"She seemed to be hiding and munching on crumbs or remnants of something," he told the Wisconsin State Journal.

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Photo: Mike Vega points to the site in Madison, Wis., where he found a starving 15-year-old wandering the streets in her bare feet. Credit: Todd Richmond/Associated Press

Are smokeless cigarettes safer? E-cig explodes in smoker's mouth

Electronic cigarettes and cigars are billed as a safer way to get a nicotine high, but a Florida man learned just how dangerous they can be this week. One of the devices exploded in his mouth, ripping out part of his tongue and several teeth while badly burning his face.

"He is very, very lucky," Fire Chief Joseph Miller of the North Bay Fire Control District told The Times. The man, identified as Tom Holloway, 57, was taken to a local hospital for treatment Wednesday, then transported to an Alabama hospital that specializes in burns. He has since been released. "It could have been a lot worse," Miller added.

Emergency responders said the device that Holloway was holding in his mouth acted like "a bottle rocket." Holloway was in his home office at the time, and some carpet and chair cushions also burned.

Electronic cigarettes and cigars  -- commonly called e-cigarettes and e-cigars -- are all the rage even though their safety is hotly debated. They use a nicotine cartridge and a battery. The battery creates an electrical charge that releases the nicotine vapor. The user inhales that familiar shot of nicotine,  without the smoke.

Until now, controversy has largely centered on federal regulatory issues and whether consumers are being misled by a device that some say could actually be more toxic than regular cigarettes because of the secondary chemicals used. But this week's explosion will obviously raise more immediate safety questions.

As you might imagine, the incident -- and ensuing publicity -- isn't good P.R. for the burgeoning industry of smokeless cigarettes and cigars.

Thomas Kiklas, co-founder of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Assn. told The Times that he believes the device that Holloway used was not the commonly sold kind, but a specially modified device designed to give the user a turbo-charged blast of nicotine. (He likened it to the difference between a push lawn mower and a gasoline-charged lawnmower.) He said on his site that it is too soon to jump to any conclusion about possible product failure.

Miller, the Niceville, Fla.-based fire chief, said he'd never heard of the device before, but assumes that it was a one-time fluke. "When I heard 'electronic cigarette,' I said, 'What in the heck is that?' "

The injured man has since called to thank the emergency responders for their quick action. "He was very, very thankful."

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File photo: An e-cigarette. Credit: Gerry Broome / Associated Press

'Underwear bomber,' seeming unrepentant, to be sentenced today

The man dubbed the "underwear bomber" faces a sentence of life in prison Thursday in U.S. District Court in Detroit for trying to blow up an international flight on Christmas Day 2009 using a bomb hidden in his underwear.

Prosecutors are seeking the harshest penalty possible, arguing that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab remains unrepentant and defiant and would attack the United States again if given the chance.

A court-appointed criminologist who interviewed the defendant said he actually was encouraged by his failure to blow up the jetliner on Christmas Day.

"The failed martyrdom mission, in his mind, is no more than a possible test of patience imposed on him by God," Israeli criminologist Simon Perry, who has studied Islamic suicide bombers, said in a court report quoted by the Christian Science Monitor. "One can interpret this rhetoric as meaning that he has not given up on aspirations to martyrdom."

On paper, the sentencing appears routine. After all, Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty to eight felonies in October and knew that a life prison term was to be expected.

But little about this case has been routine. Abdulmutallab's guilty plea was an abrupt disruption to the trial and came against the wishes of his defense team.

The Nigerian defendant and admitted Al Qaeda operative accepted responsibility but continued to justify his failed attack on the United States. The federal court case has been marked by Abdulmutallab's repeated outbursts, and he has repeatedly mocked the United States and warned the country that its judgment day was near.

"The United States should be warned that if they continue to persist and promote the blasphemy of Muhammad and the prophets," Abdulmutallab said as he entered his guilty plea, "the United States should await a great calamity that will befall them through the hands of the mujahedin soon."

The jetliner that Abdulmutallab tried to blow up was carrying 279 passengers and 11 crew members. The incident became fodder for late-night talk-show jokes even as the government was embarrassed at the obvious lapses in airline security. The incident directly led to much of the heightened security seen at airports today.

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Photo: The so-called underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is scheduled to be sentenced today in a federal courtroom in Detroit. Credit: U.S. Marshals Service

Tennessee 'Don't Say Gay' bill clears a hurdle in state House

A bill that would ban teaching Tennessee kids about homosexuality before they reach the ninth grade was approved by a state House subcommittee Wednesday, reigniting an emotional debate in the buckle of the Bible Belt.

The bill, which would limit class discussions to "natural human reproduction science" in public schools, passed the House education subcommittee, which keeps it on track for consideration by the full House, according to reports in the Nashville Tennessean and the Nashville Scene.

To supporters, the bill gives parents control over how and when to educate their children about what is still, to some, a sensitive topic.

"The basic right as an American is my right to life, my right to liberty and my right to the pursuit of happiness," Democratic state Rep. John DeBerry said, according to the Tennessean. "Within that includes being able to run my home, raise my children as I see fit and indoctrinate them as I see fit."

Wednesday's hearing attracted a large crowd, including many high school students involved in gay-straight alliance groups at Nashville high schools. Some students stood on a busy street with their mouths covered in purple tape.

Only one subcommittee member opposed the measure. "It looks to me like a solution looking for a problem," Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, a Democrat, told the Tennessean.

The bill, authored by Republican lawmaker Stacey Campfield, passed the state Senate last year. Campfield prefers to call it a "Don't Teach Gay" bill, and has said it is necessary because homosexuality is more dangerous than heterosexuality.

Campfield recently incorrectly asserted on a a satellite radio talk show that the HIV epidemic began when a gay airline employee had sex with a monkey. His statements have earned him national attention and the ire of gay rights supporters both nationally and locally: A restaurant in his hometown of Knoxville recently refused to serve him.

Jeff Woods, a reporter at the Nashville Scene, noted that Wednesday's debate over the bill took a detour into the merits of the popular TV sitcom "Modern Family," which prominently features a gay couple.

A preacher told the committee that if the bill became law, kids might find out about gay people anyway if they tuned in to the show.

The subcommittee chair, Rep. Joey Hensley, said that he didn't think that "Modern Family" was an "appropriate" show for children.

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Photo: Opponents of a bill seeking to prohibit the teaching of gay issues to elementary and middle school students wear purple to a meeting of the House Education Subcommittee in Nashville on Wednesday. The bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Joey Hensley of Hohenwald advanced on a voice vote. Credit: Erik Schelzig/Associated Press

Best in show: How the Pekingese breed earned 'Lion Dog' nickname

Best in show honors at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on Tuesday night went to Malachy, a Pekingese who did proud a truly ancient breed. Dating back to the 8th century and the Tang Dynasty, the breed once held court as the lapdog companion of emperors.

Do not be fooled by the teeny tiny dog that rarely hits 15 pounds. The Pekingese breed is actually quite muscular, and its regal bearing and fierce loyalty helped earn it the nickname Lion Dog.

Legend has it that a long, long time ago in "the mists of time," a lion fell in love with a tiny marmoset monkey. But such a love was impossible. The lion begged the deity that ruled the animal kingdom to shrink him down to size so he could marry his true love. But his heart remained its original size, according to Asian History.com, and it is from this union that the Pekingese, or Fu Lin -- Lion Dog -- was born.

PHOTOS: Westminster Kennel Club dog show

In reality, the site says, DNA studies show that the Pekingese breed closely mimics the genetic composition of wolves and is among the purest breeds of dogs on Earth, making it a very ancient  breed indeed.

The dogs' appearance is marked by a long-haired coat and ears that lend a heart-shaped look to their  otherwise wide, flat head. They may look dainty and delicate, but they're surprisingly muscular and stocky, according to the American Kennel Club.

"Pekingese possess a regal dignity, intelligence and self-importance, making them good-natured, opinionated and affectionate family companions," according to the American Kennel Club.

Some other facts about Lion Dogs: They are front heavy. They can be any color. They are difficult to housebreak. They are relatively "inactive," which makes them ideal for indoor or apartment living. They're also prone to developing Small Dog Syndrome, that human-induced disorder that allows small dogs to think they run the joint. And those coats, as you might imagine, need plenty of brushing.

Pekingese get their name from the ancient Chinese city of Peking, now known as Beijing. Chinese art through the centuries -- ink drawings, bronze figures, clay sculptures and the like -- often celebrated the Pekingese. At one point in history, Lion Dogs could be owned only by royalty and were rarely seen outside the emperor's palace. (Stealing such a dog resulted in death.)

That changed when the British invaded in 1860, according to Pedigree UK. Upon entering the Forbidden City, troops found Empress Tzu'Hai dead on the floor after committing suicide rather than submit to invasion of the West. Guarding her body were five Pekingese dogs. When the British returned home, they took the breed with them.

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Photo: Yep, I'm top dog: Malachy poses for photos moments after winning best in show at the Westminster Kennel Dog Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Credit: Michael Nagle / Getty Images

Best in show at Westminster dog show: A pipsqueak, Malachy

Best in show, that most coveted of all honors at the famed Westminster dog show, went to ... how should we describe it? A fallen cloud? A hair ball? A pug stuck inside a pom pom? Let's just call it what it is: a Pekingese named Malachy.

The 4-year-old champion at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show seemed to realize his coronation as the crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York City shouted out his name. The Associated Press noted Malachy was reveling in all the attention as his handler held him up while his pink tongue expressed itself amid all that fur, his "eyes sparkling like black diamonds."

It's worth noting that Malachy doesn't really win much -- he gets a silver bowl. There is no prize money. But the allure of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show transcends the notion of ribbons and bows and baubles. Malachy's title puts him into the history books, and perhaps his name will forever be uttered in show dog circles with awe and reverence. And wealth will come in time for Malachy's owners, with all the breeding opportunities afforded the winner.

PHOTOS: Westminster Kennel Club dog show

Malachy beat out dogs big and small Tuesday night to capture the throne, including a Dalmatian, a German shepherd, a Doberman pinscher, an Irish setter, a Kerry blue terrier and a wire-haired dachshund.

Since then, the court of public opinion has weighed in on Malachy, not all of it nice. But because Malachy can't read, we'll tell you: "Cute little dustmop/ Looks very huggable," said one comment on Twitter. "I'm sorry, but the thing that won Westminster is NOT a dog. It's more like an animatronic troll doll with extra hair," said another Twitter comment.

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was not without criticism and controversy.

Advocates for mutts and strays and rescue dogs have long decried the focus on pedigrees. They fear it encourages puppy mills when there are already so many dogs in need of a home. "They kill shelter dogs' chances," says PETA, which this year launched several protests surrounding the event. Some members even tried to infiltrate the show itself before they were halted.

Another protest took aim at the man who could be our next president: Mitt Romney. The Republican candidate has riled dog lovers everywhere with his story about traveling with his Irish setter, Seamus, back in 1983 and strapping the dog's crate to the roof rack for a 12-hour drive.

When Romney told the story, many people found it amusing. But animal rights activists didn't laugh about what they say must have been a harrowing, wind-whipped ride for the canine. On Tuesday, they held signs saying "Dogs Aren’t Luggage" and "I Ride Inside."

It's a good bet that Malachy never gets strapped to a roof rack.

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Photo: Malachy sits in his trophy after being named best in show at the 136th annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show in New York. Credit: Seth Wenig / Associated Press

Empire State Building throws same-sex weddings on Valentine's Day

The Empire State Building and its sweeping New York City views offered enviable backdrops to two couples who made history this Valentine's Day -- becoming the first same-sex couples to marry atop the landmark.

All weddings are special, of course, and a wedding on Valentine's Day is especially sweet. But only Stephanie Figarelle, 29, and Lela McArthur, 24, two personal trainers from Anchorage, Alaska, can say that they were the first-ever same-sex couple married at the Empire State Building.

They were followed by three other couples, including another same-sex couple, all of whom were  winners of an online contest that played out on Facebook, with fans voting on planning details. Winners had their dream events designed by celebrity event planner Colin Cowie, who makes regular appearances on "The Today Show" and "The Ellen Degeneres Show."

The four couples received wedding rings from DeBeers, gowns from Kleinfeld, hair and makeup by Estee Lauder, a two-night stay at a posh Manhattan hotel, the services of a celebrity photographer and, as the commercials say, that's not all! Each couple has the chance to win $100,000 if they get the most Facebook votes following the nuptials, according to Huffington Post Weddings.

The ceremonies took place in an events area on the 61st floor, and were followed by a photo shoot on the observation deck that looks out on Manhattan's famed skyline from the 86th floor.

"I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you,” Figarelle said to her partner as they exchanged rings, reported the Associated Press. "I will always love you forever, with every beat of my heart,"  McArthur, who is taking her partner's name, was quoted as saying.

Figarelle, who wore a black tuxedo to McArthur's strapless white gown, wanted to travel to New York to get married in part because of all the goodies, but also because same-sex marriage became legal in the Empire State last year. The pair hope Alaska will one day follow suit.

Later, New Yorkers Phil Fung and Shawn Klein became the second same-sex couple to take the plunge. They wore matching suits and ties, according to the wire service. Two other couples also tied the knot in Valentine's Day ceremonies atop the landmark: Angela Vega and Lubin Masibay of San Francisco and Paula Cubero and Enrique Catter of Greenwich, Conn.

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Photo: Lela McArthur, left, and Stephanie Figarelle, of Anchorage walk down the aisle after their Valentine's Day wedding ceremony at the Empire State Building. Credit: Richard Drew/Associated Press

Victorian poets in love: Barrett and Browning letters go online

Forget the chocolates this Valentine’s Day. Candles? Dinner? Clever repartee? That’s all so, well, 20th century.  For a truly 21st century celebration of love, you have to go back to the 19th -- and the Web has supplied a virtual time machine.

Starting Tuesday, anyone with a computer, tablet or the right mobile telephone can shift the paradigm with just a click -- and become involved in a passion for language that spilled over into an enduring, even legendary, Victorian love. It was a love that overcame chronic illness, a prohibition on marriage and disinheritance.

“I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett,” poet Robert Browning wrote to his future wife.

“How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the ways,” Elizabeth Barrett wrote in her most famous poem, after meeting the man who would be her husband.

Now, through the marvels of technology, the couple’s 573 love letters are available online so that anyone can see them -- in a semblance of what they were. The letters are being offered via a digital collaboration between Wellesley College in Massachusetts and Baylor University in Texas, home of the world’s largest collection of material related to the couple.

Don’t expect any literary revelation -- the couple's poetry has been long available and oft published. But if the substance is not new, the format certainly is, giving fans a chance to see the letters as they were written, faded ink and all.

The story isn’t too shabby either, with the poets seeming to duel in their efforts to describe the other with terms more glowing, to adorn the other’s verse and life with compliments more graceful.

“You are too perfect, too overcomingly good & tender -- dearest you are, & I have no words with which to answer you,” Barrett wrote to Browning in 1846, months before the couple were secretly married.

Months later, Browning wrote: “Write to me one word more -- depend on me.”

She did.

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Photo: An 1880 sculpture of Elizabeth Barrett Browning by artist William Story is on display at the Margaret Clapp Library on the campus of Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Beginning Valentine's Day, the famous love letters of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning went online as part of a digitization collaboration between Wellesley and Baylor University in Texas. Credit: Steven Senne / Associated Press

An offer you can't refuse: Las Vegas opens new Mob Museum

In this casino town partly built on gangster money, it's a sentiment you hear with some frequency: Things were better when the mob ran Vegas.

It conveys a certain wistfulness for the smaller, ostensibly friendlier city where, decades ago, locals shrugged at mobsters' running casinos and reinventing themselves as civic leaders. Sports handicapper Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal hosted a television show. Bootlegger Moe Dalitz helped build a hospital.

The city began formally cashing in on its mafia legacy Tuesday with the opening of the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement -- better known as the Mob Museum.

The publicly funded museum opened in a former federal courthouse where a U.S. Senate hearing on organized crime was held in the 1950s. Its exhibits were shaped by historians and former FBI agents, and include crime scene photos, tommy guns and a brick wall shot up during the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago.

The $42-million project has raised some hackles among fiscal conservatives, who consider it a waste of taxpayer money, the Associated Press reported. But the museum's cheerleaders -- including mob attorney turned mayor Oscar Goodman -- are betting it will draw tourists from the Las Vegas Strip to a slowly gentrifying section of downtown.

Other recent efforts to capitalize on Sin City’s mobster past have had mixed success. The Vegas Mob Tour, a 2½-hour jaunt that includes a stop at Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel's Flamingo hotel, has managed to rumble along for several years.

“I try to do it tactfully and with taste, as much as you can with a mob tour,” founder Robert Allen told The Times in 2008. “You can say someone cut off someone's head with a machete, but we prefer to say ‘decapitated.’ ”

The Mob Experience at the Tropicana casino had a tougher time, despite its Strip location and an extensive collection of gangster artifacts. For example, it displayed one of Meyer Lansky's love letters to his wife: "Keep your legs crossed and go to sleep."

The attraction closed last year amid a bevy of problems, including the bankruptcy of its owner, Murder Inc LLC. It's slated to reopen under a different name.

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Photo: A tommy gun exhibit at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. Credit: Isaac Brekken / Associated Press

'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' winning over Lincoln historians

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" won't be in theaters until June 22. But the horror-meets-history thriller that re-envisions our 16th president as an ax-wielding fang-fighter already has an unexpected fan base: historians.

But that fan base didn't develop overnight. When the experts at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill., first heard about the fictional book "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," by Seth Grahame-Smith, they were not exactly pleased. Would it make a mockery of the Great Emancipator? Would it ignore Lincoln's pivotal role in history? Would it portray him as a cartoonish figure in a stovepipe hat?

"There was a lot of skepticism, let's just say that," library spokesman Dave Blanchett told The Times.

But "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" appears to be winning over historians with its attention to fact and detail even as it swings wildly into the fantastic and the fictional.

The trailer for the movie was posted online Monday by 20th Century Fox, timed to coincide with  the official observances of the 203rd anniversary of Lincoln's Feb. 12, 1809, birth.

That trailer was a mere morsel for the masses when compared to the banquet served up Friday night at the library.

Director Timur Bekmambetov ("Wanted," "Night Watch") and actor Benjamin Walker, who plays Honest Abe, personally introduced several scenes from the movie to library staff and movie critics who flew in as part of a Hollywood junket. Producer Tim Burton couldn't make it, but he sent the next best thing, Blanchette said: a black-and-white digital message with several Burtonesque touches that seemed to thrill those in attendance.