A couple from Arkansas was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting, coercing, and depriving a teenage girl of food over the course of several years.
Following a teenager’s report of abuse to a school counselor, Daniel Caler, 34, and Annie Caler, 28 were taken into custody on May 9. The girl told police that she had allegedly been raped repeatedly by Daniel Caler beginning in August 2020 and continuing until March 2023, when Annie Caler stepped in, according to court documents obtained by KNWA, a local Fox affiliate. But the girl reported to the police that Annie Caler allegedly mistreated her even more.
The girl told police that Annie Caler had stabbed her in the neck with a fork after she didn’t clean the dishes the way she wanted, according to court documents. Annie Caler allegedly said to the girl, “I hope you die,” during this incident.
The girl also told police that the couple allegedly refused to take her to the hospital for treatment after she broke her leg.
The girl told police that she was only fed once a week, which was reportedly just a glass of water and a Pop-Tart, and that she was made to sleep in a bathtub without a pillow or blankets while she was living there. She claimed to investigators that she was physically abused by the couple, who kicked and punched her and pushed her against walls.
According to court documents, the couple also coerced the girl into consuming illegal substances like cocaine, methadone, methamphetamine, and fentanyl. According to local CBS affiliate KSFM’s coverage of the documents, she claimed that Annie Caler “forced her to snort the drugs at least four times.”
The documents state that the girl told police that she and Daniel Caler “talked about it” after Annie Caler saw one of the previous alleged sexual assaults on her, during which Daniel Caler allegedly threatened to kill his wife. The girl told the police that this was the reason she was reluctant to report the abuse.
It wasn’t immediately apparent how the girl and the Calers were related.
However, in April 2025, the girl told police that she had finally found people who would protect her and that she felt comfortable enough to tell someone. According to reports, she also stated that she could no longer “live with the guilt thinking it was her fault.”
After being taken into custody on May 9, Daniel and Annie Caler were checked into the Benton County Detention Center. Daniel Caler was accused of sexual assault, rape, endangering the welfare of a minor, terroristic threats, and allowing the abuse of a minor. Annie Caler was accused of introducing a controlled substance into another person’s body, allowing a minor to be abused, threatening to commit terrorism, battery, and endangering the welfare of a minor.
