A Missouri man accused of holding a woman captive for a month in her basement has been indicted by a grand jury on kidnapping and rape charges, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Timothy M. Haslett, 40, was arrested in October 2022 after a woman allegedly said she was being held captive at her Excelsior Springs home.
A grand jury indicted him on nine counts – including rape in the first degree, four counts of sodomy in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree and two counts of assault in the first degree, the Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson during a press conference Tuesday.
Timothy Haslett is shown in this reservation photo released by the Excelsior Springs Police Department on Oct. 7, 2022.
Excelsior Springs Police Department
If convicted of all charges, he faces up to five life sentences and 36 years in prison, he said.
“We wouldn’t 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.
Grand jury proceedings in Missouri are confidential, Thompson noted.
Haslett is currently held on a $3 million bond and is expected to appear in court on Feb. 17, Thompson said. Her public defender, Tiffany Leuty, told ABC News she has no comment at this time.
The prosecution alleges that the crimes were committed between September 1 and October 7, 2022, and that many were committed with the intent to “terrorize” the victim.
Haslett was also indicted for endangering a child’s well-being for allegedly leaving unprotected firearms around an 8-year-old boy, according to the indictment.
Haslett was initially charged with first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault of the 22-year-old woman who allegedly fled her home last year. He entered a plea of not guilty to those charges in October.
The woman told neighbors she was held captive for a month in Haslett’s basement and was tied up, beaten and raped, according to police.
“It was immediately apparent that she had been held against her will for a significant amount of time,” Excelsior Springs Police Lieutenant Ryan Dowdy told reporters during a news conference Oct. 7, according to KMBC, an affiliate of ABC News Kansas City.
Haslett’s basement room was consistent with what the victim described, according to an affidavit on the probable cause of the arrest.
In this screenshot taken from the video, the home of suspect Timothy Haslett is shown in Excelsior Springs, Missouri on October 7, 2022.
KMB extension
The victim, who is Black, fled to a neighbor’s house wearing lingerie, a padlocked metal collar and duct tape around her neck, according to the affidavit.
Missouri community members, including Kansas City community leader Bishop Tony Caldwell, said other black women were abducted and killed without any police follow-up prior to this incident last fall.
There is no public evidence to support this claim, police said. The Kansas City Police Department told ABC last fall that there were no missing persons reports filed with the department, specifically reports from Prospect Avenue in Kansas City, where the woman was allegedly taken.
Prosecutors said Tuesday they were still looking for a potential witness whose whereabouts are unknown. Thompson said the person might have information relevant to the case, even if he hasn’t elaborated.
