Neighbors Say They Repeatedly Reported Couple In South Mpls. Torture Case

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Neighbors say they were not surprised to hear about the torture that's alleged inside a Minneapolis home. In fact, many of them had called 911 numerous times because they were concerned about the couple's developmentally disabled twin girls.

Prosecutors believe the couple kept the 20-year-olds chained inside their home on 17th Avenue South in Minneapolis. Police arrested Sheila Wilson Friday morning. They arrested Jerry Curry earlier in the week.

"The system has to be fixed. This is not how things should work. This should have been resolved years ago," one neighbor said.

This neighbor witnessed what she calls alarming behavior at the home next door where two 20-year-olds lived with their parents. A younger sibling also lived there.

"There have been a lot of incidences between yelling and screaming at the kids, locking them outside in their bras and underwear. One of them even slept on the back steps a couple of nights," the neighbor said.

The criminal complaint alleges Wilson and Curry beat the twins with bats and paddles and kept them chained inside. It's alleged one of the girls was repeatedly raped by Curry. She gave birth to his baby in October.

"It's just really disgusting. It's really sad and really disgusting," the neighbor said.

Neighbors feel frustrated it took years for someone to realize what they feared was happening inside.

"I called the police, between us and the neighbors, we called adult protection, child protection, even animal control. The police had been here when they were locked outside and they just beat on the door and made them, let them back," the neighbor said.

Documents obtained by WCCO show Minneapolis Police responded to the home more than 50 times since 2011. Reports include a lost child, domestic abuse and welfare checks. The siblings were removed from the home last May after one of the girls escaped and reported the abuse.

On Thursday Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said investigating these cases is complex.

"In most of these kinds of cases the folks being abused are strongly urged at the threat of violence to deny any wrongdoing," Freeman said.

Freeman did call the couple's alleged behavior repulsive and horrendous and said his office plans to file for aggravated circumstances to get a longer sentence.

Wilson is being held at the Hennepin County Jail. She'll go before a judge for the first time on Monday.  Curry remains behind bars with his bail set at $750,000.