An Ohio couple charged with imprisoning three of their adopted children - two girls and a boy - for 22 hours a day and abusing them have pleaded not guilty , in a case that began after the girls managed to escape the 'house of horrors ' and crashed the family van . The 58-year-old adopted father is charged with sexually abusing the two girls , who were 11 and 13 at the time of the alleged ordeal . He and his 64-year-old wife are both charged with kidnapping , felonious assault and endangering children in Ashtabula County , about 50 miles east of Cleveland . The suspects are not being named , in order to protect the identities of the victims . Abuse : Between September 2011 and September 2013 , two juvenile girls and a mentally handicapped adult male were locked in their bedrooms 'virtually all day every day ' and abused , prosecutors say . Their adoptive parents - who are not being identified - plead not guilty Wednesday to a variety of charges . County Prosecutor Nicholas Iarocci said the couple also abused and neglected their adopted son , now 21 , who is mentally disabled . Iarocci said Wednesday that the couple 'repeatedly and harshly ' beat the girls and older son with a paddle that police found to be stained with blood . The three victims were given little to eat and were malnourished , Iarocci said . He called living conditions inside the home 'deplorable . ' The victims were typically allowed out of their rooms for two hours a day for school lessons , to eat and to use the bathroom , Iarocci said . They were not allowed to socialize with other children in recent years , he said . Iarocci could not explain why a younger adopted son , now 13 , was not abused . Indictments allege the abuse occurred over a two-year period starting in September 2011 . The investigation began after the two girls managed to pick the lock on their shared bedroom - the windows of which were boarded up - and escape in August 2013 , speeding away in the van before getting into an accident , Iarocci said . After telling responding officers that they feared going home , the girls reluctantly revealed their squalid living conditions . The sisters did not mention the alleged abuse until after they were charged in the accident , and then they told their probation officer , according to the prosecutor . 'To be honest with you , as these children told me the story , it was hard to hold back some of the tears , ' Iarocci told Fox 8 Cleveland . House of horrors : Two girls and an adopted boy were locked up in bedrooms in the couple 's home , pictured , and the abuse only emerged after the girls escaped and stole the parents ' car - but later crashed . Buckets and a metal container were left in the bedrooms for them to use as a bathroom when they were locked away , he said . The three children and the man were removed from the home and placed in foster care a month after the crash . The couple adopted six children about 11 years ago but the abuse began only after two older boys left the family home after turning 18 , Iarocci said . We ca n't explain why these people did what they did and when it started , ' Larocci said . The abuse inflicted psychological damage on the girls , but they and their older adopted brother have thrived in foster care , Iarocci said . 'They 're almost different children , ' he said , adding that the girls are being adopted by another family . An attorney for the husband declined to comment on Wednesday . The wife is expected to be assigned an attorney in the next few days . Each are being held on $ 50,000 bail . Horrific : County prosecutor Nicholas Iarocci , pictured , said he cried when the girls detailed their abuse and he believes the system failed when they put the children in the couple 's home . The children had been previously placed in the couple 's home by Ashtabula County Children Services following background checks - but Iarocci said he did n't know how it had happened . ' I ca n't explain how these children ultimately were adopted by them - how they were originally fostered by these folks , ' he told Fox 8 . ' I think it 's a failure of our system . Our system was broke . For any child to be placed in the custody or care of [ the accused ] was a terrible mistake . '
Father , 58 , of Ashtabula County , pleaded not guilty to sexual abuse . He and his wife , 64 , charged with kidnap , assault and child endangerment . Abuse emerged after the two girls escaped their locked room , stole their parents ' car and crashed it . They told police they were 'locked up for two hours a day , made to use a bucket for the bathroom and sexually assaulted ' The couple 'also abused an adopted son , who is mentally challenged '