Missouri woman escapes after being held hostage for months and raped several times

Authorities in Missouri say that a woman was held hostage for a month in a room in the basement and sexually assaulted several times before she escaped while wearing a dog collar.

Timothy M. Haslett, who resides in the Kansas City suburb of Excelsior Springs, was taken into custody on Friday and made an appearance in court on Tuesday, when a judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

He is accused of committing rape in the first degree or attempting to commit rape, abduction in the first degree, and assault in the second degree. He is now being held on a bail of $500,000, and on Tuesday he informed the court that he needed the assistance of a public prosecutor to defend him.

On Friday, law enforcement was sent to a residence where they were informed the victim was covered in a garbage bag and had a metal collar with what seemed to be a padlock on the top of the collar. She said that after being taken into custody in September, she had been detained in Haslett’s house ever since.

She said that he locked her in a cramped room in the basement of his house and repeatedly raped and whipped her there.

The lock, which the police stated was making it difficult for the lady to breathe, was removed by the authorities. According to a statement that was made by a detective on probable cause, the victim said that when she was being transported to the hospital, she saw the house where she had been detained.

“He kept her restrained in handcuffs on her wrists and ankles. She was able to get free when he took his child to school,” the probable cause statement said.

The authorities are currently looking into the possibility of there being further casualties. According to a story by the Kansas City Star, ever since Haslett’s arrest, law enforcement officials have hauled big bags of evidence from the ranch-style property. With the help of a “cadaver dog,” they looked over the yard and Haslett’s car.