The Story Of Her Life

Diana Moskovitz: After all the torment and torture, Nubia Barahona could still flash a smile. It was radiant and confident, set off by blond bangs and big hazel eyes. She smiled like a girl with her whole life ahead of her.

It showed no trace of her personal hell.

She was born to a drug-abusing former prostitute, removed from the home after her father was accused of improperly touching another child, then sent by the state's child protection agency to live with a couple who, police say, bound and tortured both her and her twin brother, Victor.

The abuse was habitual and savage, Victor later said. And yet, so many of the family photos of Nubia show a girl with a sunny disposition, wrapping her…