BELFAST, Maine (AP)   Former neighbors of a couple accused of fatally beating a 10-year-old girl said they heard abuse and reported it to police and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

Julio and Sharon Carrillo were ordered held Wednesday on $500,000 cash bail during their first court appearance.

They’re charged with murder in the death of Sharon Carrillo’s 10-year-old daughter, Marrissa Kennedy, in Stockton Springs. The Carrillos told police they’d beaten the girl for months and that they tried to stage the scene to make it appear her death was an accident.

A prosecutor suggested Wednesday that the beatings amounted to “torture.”

Attorneys for both Carrillos said they intended to look into the validity of their alleged confessions. A spokeswoman for the DHHS didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.