An Arkansas couple was arrested for allegedly abusing a teenage girl for years, including sexual assault, drugging her, and depriving her of food.
Daniel Caler, 34, and Annie Caler, 28, were arrested on May 9 after a teenager living in their home complained to a school counselor about being abused. Court documents obtained by KNWA, a local Fox affiliate, stated that the girl told police she had been raped repeatedly by Daniel Caler beginning in August 2020 and ending in March 2023, when Annie Caler intervened. However, the girl told police that Annie Caler allegedly abused her even more.
According to court documents, the girl told police that Annie Caler stabbed her in the neck with a fork after she failed to clean the dishes to her satisfaction. During this incident, Annie Caler reportedly said to the girl, “I hope you die.”
The girl also claimed that when she had a broken leg, the couple refused to take her to the hospital for treatment.
While living in the house, the girl told police that she was forced to sleep in a bathtub without a pillow or blankets and was fed only once a week, with a glass of water and a Pop-Tart. She told investigators that the couple physically abused her, pushing her against walls and punching and kicking her.
The couple also forced the girl to take illegal drugs such as fentanyl, cocaine, methadone, and methamphetamine, according to court documents. She claimed that Annie Caler “forced her to snort the drugs at least four times,” according to local CBS affiliate KSFM’s reporting on the documents.
According to the documents, the girl told police that after Annie Caler witnessed one of Daniel Caler’s previous alleged sexual assaults on her, the couple “talked about it,” during which time Daniel Caler threatened to kill his wife. The girl explained to police why she was hesitant to report her abuse.
The relationship between the girl and the Calers was not immediately apparent.
However, in April 2025, the girl told police that she now felt safe enough to tell someone and that she had found people who would protect her. She also reportedly stated that she couldn’t “live with the guilt thinking it was her fault anymore.”
Daniel and Annie Caler were arrested on May 9 and booked into the Benton County Detention Center. Daniel Caler was charged with rape, terroristic threatening, endangering the welfare of a minor, sexual assault, and allowing abuse of a minor. Annie Caler was charged with introducing a controlled substance into another person’s body, allowing minors to be abused, terroristic threats, battery, and endangering a minor’s welfare.