A woman was held captive and abused for weeks at a home in Missouri until she escaped recently when the suspect left the house, according to law enforcement.
Police arrested 39-year-old Timothy Haslett Jr. on October 7 and later charged him with first-degree rape, aggravated sexual offense, first-degree kidnapping, and second-degree assault, NBC News reported Tuesday.
“Police found the woman Friday wearing a metal collar with a padlock and latex lingerie, with duct tape around her mouth, Excelsior Springs police said in a probable cause statement filed Friday,” the outlet continued:
The woman told police that Haslett picked her up in the beginning of September and kept her in a small room in his basement, restraining her wrists and ankles with handcuffs, police said in the document. The woman said Haslett raped her repeatedly and whipped her while she was held hostage, police said, adding that the woman had injuries on her back.
She reportedly escaped when the suspect left to take his child to school for the day.
KCTV5 shared a mugshot of Haslett and listed the charges against him:
BREAKING NEWS: Timothy Haslett, Jr. has been charged with first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault in connection with today's Excelsior Springs investigation.
Previous coverage: https://t.co/5rZOzazU7V pic.twitter.com/NYFIwtEBaR
— KCTV5 News (@KCTV5) October 8, 2022
When the woman escaped the home, she apparently banged on neighbors’ doors looking for help.
“She didn’t have much of a voice so it was more like a light ‘help me,'” Lisa Johnson, who saw the woman approach her home, told KSHB. Johnson immediately called 911 for assistance:
“And as I did she started to go next door. It frightened her. She told me if I called the cops he’d kill us both,” she added.
Ciara Tharp’s grandmother lives in the home next door and Tharp said the elderly woman heard someone screaming, opened the door, and took the woman inside.
The woman was wearing the metal collar, had duct tape around her neck, and wore a trash bag. The elderly woman comforted the victim until police arrived, Tharp explained.
Photos showed the home in question with crime scene tape on a chain link fence set up around its perimeter:
An Excelsior Springs home is boarded/fenced in. Investigators are examining items recovered from the home where a woman told police she escaped after being held captive and sexually assaulted. Timothy Haslett Jr. is charged with rape, kidnapping, 2nd deg. assault. @KCTV5 5 & 6PM pic.twitter.com/R1MtRIQrgo
— Emily Rittman KCTV5 (@EmilyRittman) October 10, 2022
Haslett appeared in court Wednesday in Liberty and a judge entered a not guilty plea on the suspect’s behalf, according to KMBC.
Video footage showed the moment law enforcement officers took Haslett into custody:
Neighbor Everado Miranda told the outlet he hardly ever saw the suspect and never saw the woman on the property.
“What that woman went through, you know? My heart breaks for her. Hopefully he rots in jail. He should not see sunlight ever again,” he commented.
The news came after a recent survey showed violent crime in cities across President Joe Biden’s (D) America rose over four percent in the first six months of this year, according to Breitbart News.
“Compared to 2019 crime rates, some cities have seen a doubling in murders and a 36 percent increase in aggravated assaults,” the outlet said.
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