amityville horror
House was possessed like that in the book Amityville Horror Wiki Commons

A "portal to hell" has been discovered in Indiana containing an estimated 200 demons, official records say.

In a Daily Mail exclusive, Latoya Ammons, who started renting the haunted property in 2011, told how her house became a beacon for paranormal activity, with her three children being possessed and inexplicably injured after being thrown in the house.

A police chief and priest who examined the house even said in official reports that the house was haunted and that reports of ghosts were not a hoax.

Charles Austin, Indiana police captain, explained how he came to encounter the haunted house: "The sergeant told me that the children had been missing school and there was talk of satanic goings on. He was very leery of it.

"I contacted some people, high-ranking officers; we decided to take a look. I walked in there thinking this was nothing but a hoax, a concocted story."

Over the coming months, Austin would become increasingly convinced the house was a portal to hell. He was involved in conducting one minor and three major exorcisms and has been the target of a demonic attack because of his involvement in the case.

Over six months, Ammons said her children were possessed and physically attacked by demons. They fell ill, that the house "dripped oil" and shadowy figures walked through the rooms at night, with footsteps heard in the basement.

The family came to the attention of the Department of Child Protection because of the time the children were spending away from school and their injuries. Ammons was also medically assessed to ensure she was of "sound mind", with some speculating she was suffering from a mental illness.

Corroborating Austin's story, Roman Catholic priest Michael Maginot also refused to believe Ammons' story at first, but changed his mind after encountering paranormal occurrences.

Latoya Ammons
Latoya Ammons was assessed by doctors and found to be of sound mind. Facebook

Maginot said: "We were having our bible study after mass when I got the call saying 'You're a Catholic priest. You do exorcisms. We need you to do one'. They went on to tell me that a little boy had just walked, glided, backwards up a wall and flipped over to land on his feet.

"They said he was growling, they described all sorts of things. I went of course.

"I set out to disprove it because to be honest I didn't want to get the bishop involved. But I had policeman, social workers, doctors and security guards telling me what they had witnessed. I couldn't just dismiss them all. That was a Friday. So I met with the mother and grandmother on the Sunday."

Over the months, he became convinced the house was haunted: "I think there was a curse placed on the mother, that she was the focus possibly by an ex-boyfriend or his wife and that that combined with some tragedy and perhaps occult practices that had taken place in that house before and that had opened a portal."

Ammons contacted various churches and clairvoyants to help with her house, with one telling her there were over 200 demons living in her home. Eventually she was able to move house and the problems subsided. The new tenants said there had been no more problems at the address.

However, Austin says the episode has convinced him of the paranormal: "I am a believer," he told the Indianapolis Star.