A couple have been arrested after they allegedly tortured a girl and boy, who were tied up with electrical cord and beaten.
Priscilla Meachem, 31, and Elijah Waltz, 38, are accused of a sickening campaign of abuse against the children, aged 10 and 11 respectively.
Investigators allege that the children were starved and told they would die a terrible death between June and October this year.
Meachem and Waltz, from Zanesville in Ohio, also used zip ties and duct tape to restrain the children, it is claimed.
The children's heads were shaved, and the couple - who got together in April this year - would regularly eat in front of them, police say.
Police detective Bryan Ruff told the Zanesville Times Reporter : "This is the worst abuse case I've seen."
The boy was beaten with a piece of wood and a guitar, Ruff said.
The couple now face a lengthy list of charges, the newspaper reports.
Meachem and Waltz have been charged with nine counts of felonious assault, six counts of kidnapping and seven counts of child endangering.
If convicted, the sentences could be 194 years each.
Since the sickening abuse was uncovered, the boy and girl have been taken to a safe place, Ruff said.
Police became aware of the torture after someone contacted the Muskingum County Children's Services, it is believed.
