Nine children lived as virtual prisoners in a dark, filthy apartment where they were sexually or physically assaulted by their parents, authorities said Tuesday.

"There were 11 people living in a darkened apartment with little access to the outside world. They only knew this way of life. They (the children) were not born in a hospital; they were born in the apartment," said Deputy Chief Joseph DeMartino.

Herman and Frances McMillan, 42 and 34 respectively, were arrested Monday after three months of delicate questioning of the children disclosed a pattern of rape, sodomy and beatings in three gloomy rooms from which the six boys and three girls never emerged, police said.