Florida \u2018doomsday prepper\u2019 couple accused of enslaving and abusing two women
Two women escaped from a Florida farm where they were held captive, forced into hard labor, and physically and sexually abused for years by an unhinged couple preparing for the end of the world, authorities said.
The Wakulla County Sheriff’s office busted Crawfordville husband and wife Mirko Ceska, 58, and Regina Ceska, 55 on Friday, culminating a near-two-week probe that began when the victims escaped the farm, about 20 miles outside of Tallahassee, and alerted police, officials said.
“The females described Mr. and Mrs. Ceska as doomsday preppers who had getaway properties located throughout the United States and food rations and weapons stored in the event of a major calamity,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post on Friday.
“The females stated they had been trained to raise pigs, raise sheep, grow various fruits and vegetables, sheer sheep, utilize a loom, and sew,” the post continues.
The alleged victims — whose identities and ages were not disclosed — told cops they were not allowed to have cellphones or friends. They were also told never to agree, talk to or shake hands with anyone in public.
Disobeying resulted in punishments including starvation, verbal abuse and beatings, the victims said, authorities said.
Mirko Ceska allegedly beat the captives with a metal rod, and one of the victims was bruised on her back and arm when she showed up to the sheriff’s office, authorities said.
He allegedly forced sex acts on his hostages too — “some with the support of Regina Ceska,” according to police, who allegedly found evidence of an Internet search for “incestuous video” on his phone.
Cops also said they discovered a video where Mirko was screaming at the alleged victims within inches of their faces, saying they had stolen food.
The alleged victims escaped the farm on June 28, and reported their alleged tormentors to cops three days later.
Police said they found “large quantities of food rations and survivalist items,” on the property, along with “high quality firearms and many cases of ammunition.” Some of the weapons were hidden behind false walls and a staircase, police said.
The Ceskas were both charged with neglect, and Mirko faces sex abuse charges, cops said.
The couple were interviewed in a 2009 Associated Press article about over-medication of children in foster care, and said that they had adopted two 12-year-old twin girls a year earlier, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
“When we saw them the first time and they were on all those medications,” Regina Ceska told the outlet. “Their behavior was absolutely terrible and you could almost not control them.”
