A man in Missouri was arrested and charged on Tuesday with kidnapping and keeping a woman hostage in his house for a month, forcing her to wear a metal collar as well as sexually abusing her during her forced stay.
Warning: Graphic content
Timothy Haslett, Jr. from Excelsior Spring, Missouri is being charged with kidnapping and keeping a woman, who was not named publicly in the case, for a month in his house’s basement and sexually abusing her repeatedly, according to WMIX 94.
The woman was reportedly picked up by Haslett in September in Prospect in Kansas City, before forcibly imprisoning her in his basement for a month. She was able to escape on Friday when Haslett left the house with his son, and found herself shelter with his neighbors, who called the police and gave her food and a blanket, KCTV 5 reported.
“She said she was very hungry and my grandma could tell she was weak. She didn’t have a whole lot of clothes on,” Ciara Tharp, the neighbor, said. “She said that she had a metal dog collar around her neck, and she could see the ligature marks on her wrists.”
The collar in her neck had a padlock that first responders were forced to remove after they realized that the collar was inhibiting her breathing. Officers in the area were able to keep Haslett from entering his home after the woman had pointed to it on her way to the hospital, KMBC News 9 reported.
“She was able to point out the house to us from the back of the ambulance on the way to the hospital,” local police Chief Gregory Dull said. “We were able to keep him from getting back into the house and possibly destroying evidence.”
The woman testified that she was raped repeatedly by Haslett while she was restrained in his basement, which she was able to describe accurately to the officers. Many people in the neighborhood has expressed shock over the brutality of the actions that Haslett allegedly did. “It's a scary world to be raising my daughter in,” neighbor Alyssa Meridith said. “Especially being in my hometown. There's never been this much activity in Excelsior.”
“We want to see justice is upheld not only for the victim in this case but this community. We believe that they deserve that,” Dull said.
During his court appearance, the judge presiding the case put a not guilty plea for Haslett, and is scheduled next week for a bond hearing regarding the different charges that he is facing.
