A convicted sex offender was just arrested nearly two years after allegedly breaking into a camping tent on a hiking trail in Oregon, kidnapping two women, and threatening to sexually assault them.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested 58-year-old Gene Arnold McLenithan last week and charged him with kidnapping and attempted abusive sexual contact for allegedly snatching the women from their tent at a public hiking trail in Tillamook County on July 4, 2024, the New York Post reported.
McLenithan allegedly cut open their tent around midnight, kidnapped them, bound them, covered their eyes, and threatened to assault them, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Oregon said.
He allegedly told the women he had a bag of “razor-sharp knives” and said it is “not worth” their lives after breaking into their tent, OregonLive reported, citing a statement from Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Rochat and his first court appearance last week.
Neither of the women knew McLenithan, Rochat said. Authorities did not disclose how the women escaped him.
“Additional details of the location where the terrifying ordeal unfolded and how McLenithan was nabbed nearly two years later were not released, and his federal criminal complaint has been sealed,” the Post reported.
McLenithan was previously arrested in connection with several sexual assaults in Tillamook County. He was arrested in 1999 after breaking into a home in Otis and assaulting a female resident, according to the report. He pleaded guilty in the case and was convicted of two counts of sodomy and burglary in 2000.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jolie Russo ordered him to be held without bail on Thursday pending his trial, per the report.
If he is convicted, he could face life in prison for kidnapping and up to ten years for attempted abusive sexual contact.
Investigators said they have reason to believe there may be other victims and urged anyone with information to contact the FBI at (503) 224-4181 or to submit a tip online at https://tips.fbi.go.