Widower says he was helpless to stop abuse

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- A widower of an East St. Louis woman who police say routinely ordered children in her home to beat a mentally challenged woman says he was helpless to do anything about it.

Fifty-nine-year-old Willie Bender says he also was physically abused, both by his wife before she died this month and the children accused of severely beating a 34-year-old live-in relative.

And Bender tells the Belleville News-Democrat that he was drunk most of the time.

Three teenagers -- ages 17, 16 and 13 -- are charged with aggravated battery in the beatings of the mentally challenged woman. The younger two suspects are charged as juveniles.

The victim had broken bones, and her right leg was amputated after becoming gangrenous.