A Missouri man accused of holding a woman captive in his basement until she escaped last year has been charged with rape and other charges carrying life in prison, the Clay County prosecutor said Tuesday.
Timothy Haslett Jr., 40, was charged with nine counts, including rape, sodomy and kidnapping, prosecutor Zach Thompson said.
If convicted, Haslett, who is being held in lieu of $3 million bail, could face more than five life sentences in prison, Thompson said.
“We would not be here today if it weren’t for the courage of one woman and the tireless efforts of the men and women of 16 different agencies,” Thompson said, according to video transmitted by local media.
Haslett was arrested in October after a woman escaped from her Excelsior Springs home wearing a metal necklace with a padlock and went to ask neighbors for help, police said in court documents.
A neighbor said she was getting ready to go to work on October 7 when she heard the victim cry for help and called police.
Haslett’s public defender said he will plead not guilty at his court appearance on Friday.
The victim told police Haslett picked her up on a Kansas City, Missouri, street in early September and was held in a small basement room, bound in handcuffs at her wrists and ankles, police said. in a statement of probable cause. previously filed in court.
The woman also said she had been repeatedly raped and caned, but managed to escape when Haslett left to take her son to school, a detective said in the document.
The grand jury indictment announced Tuesday cites one count of first-degree rape, four counts of first-degree sodomy, one count of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of second-degree assault and one count of child endangerment. .
It is an open investigation, Thompson, the prosecutor, said Tuesday. He encouraged anyone with information to contact Excelsior Springs police.
Excelsior Springs is a city of about 10,500 people about 25 miles northeast of downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
