‘Girl in the Closet’ arrested in sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl, police say
Lauren Kavanaugh, who is known for being “The Girl in the Closet,” was arrested on charges of sexual assault of a child on Monday, the Lewisville Police Department said.
Officers received a tip from a 14-year-old girl that she had been sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh, the department said in a news release on Wednesday.
Kavanaugh, 25, is nationally known for being found tortured and starving in the closet of her family’s Hutchins, Texas, home in 2001.
Police conducted a forensic interview of the 14-year-old, who told police she and Kavanaugh had been sexual for two months.
In the investigation, detectives confirmed the suspect was the same Kavanaugh who was a victim of abuse and sexual assault as a child and whose story made national headlines, police said.
Authorities said that from age 2 to 8, Kavanaugh was isolated by her mother and stepfather in a roughly 4-by-8-foot closet in their trailer, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Police said Kavanaugh ran a Facebook account called “The Lauren Kavanaugh Story,” where she reached out to other potential abuse victims “to offer friendships and support.”
Police said the 14-year-old and Kavanaugh met through the Facebook page. On Wednesday, it appeared the Facebook page had been taken down. Capt. Jesse Hunter of the Lewisville Police Department said someone had taken the page down but it was not the police department.
Detectives interviewed Kavanaugh, and police said she admitted having a “sexual relationship” with the 14-year-old.
Kavanaugh was arrested and, as of Wednesday night, was in the Denton County Jail on a $10,000 bond.
Lewisville police said in the news release they believe there are other alleged victims and are asking for the public’s help in finding them.
“Detectives are asking parents to speak to their children to find out if they have had contact with Kavanaugh, and if it is believed to have been in an inappropriate manner, to contact the Lewisville Police Department,” the police department said.
Tips can be called in to 972-219-TIPS or texted anonymously to ‘TIPLPD’ and your message to 847411.
Kavanaugh was interviewed on the Dr. Phil show in 2017 about the ordeal. In the show, Dr. Phil quoted an officer who was on the scene when Kavanaugh was found.
“Her skin was peeling due to laying in her own feces. Lauren’s matted hair reminded me of a rat’s nest. The closet where Lauren had been kept, it smelled horribly,” Officer Gary McClain said on Dr. Phil. “We found what appeared to be chew marks or teeth marks on the inside of the closet door handle. I haven’t ever run across anything like this.”
According to CBS News, Kavanaugh weighed 25 pounds when she was found in the closet, which was covered in trash and feces. In the case against Kavanaugh’s stepfather, prosecutors said the abuse had been going on for five or six years.
A doctor testified she had been sexually abused so badly she needed surgery.
This story was originally published December 19, 2018 at 10:03 PM.
