KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Timothy Haslett Jr. was indicted on nine new felony charges in a substitute indictment related to an alleged kidnapping and rape last year in Excelsior Springs, the Clay County prosecutor announced Tuesday.
Haslett, 40, had previously been charged with three felonies in connection with the alleged abduction and sexual assault of a 22-year-old woman in September and October 2022 in Excelsior Springs.
Those charges were replaced with the new nine-count indictment, which was handed down by a Clay County grand jury.
Clay County Attorney Zachary Thompson announced the new charges Tuesday: one count of rape in the first degree, four counts of sodomy in the first degree, one count of kidnapping in the first degree, two counts of assault in the second degree and a first-degree count endangering a child’s well-being.
“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 law enforcement agencies,” Thompson said at a news conference to announce the new allegations.
Thompson said Haslett will appear in Clay County Circuit Court Feb. 17 to face the new charges and prosecutors have asked for $3 million bail in the case. He faces up to five life sentences if convicted, Thompson said.
Excelsior Springs Police have launched a multi-day investigation that began Oct. 7 after a woman began pounding on doors before 8 a.m. and claimed she had been abducted and raped.
She told police Haslett held her against her will for several weeks and repeatedly sexually assaulted her on the 300 block of Old Orchard Street in Excelsior Springs.
Haslett was arrested on October 7 and charged with rape in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree and assault in the second degree. Such allegations should be dismissed in light of the new allegations.
That day, a 22-year-old woman frantically knocked on doors in the 300 block of Old Orchard Street and later told police she had fled the Haslett residence.
The woman – who was wearing a trash bag, a metal collar with a padlock and had duct tape around her neck – told police she was handcuffed and kept in a small room in the basement of Haslett’s home.
She said Haslett had been holding her against her will since she was picked up along Prospect Avenue in September 2022 and had repeatedly whipped and raped her.
Haslett named a public defender in the case, and a Clay County judge declined to reduce his $500,000 bail on the three original charges.
Haslett sought to downplay the initial charges against him as “serious,” but “nothing but (charges)” in a Jackson County custody battle with his ex-wife over the couple’s child.
He was returning after leaving his son in the heat of a custody battle at the school when the woman ran away from home.
Police were called to Haslett’s home three times in the year before his arrest in October 2022: twice for welfare checks initiated by family or his employer and once for an animal control violation.
He was initially arrested during a traffic stop on his way home for an animal control violation.
The child endangerment charge stems from “leaving unsecured firearms in accessible areas” of an 8-year-old boy, according to court documents.
Thompson said police are still hoping to contact a possible witness, Jaynie Crosdale, about the case and are asking for other potential victims to come forward.
Authorities believe Crosdale “may have information relevant to the case,” Thompson said.
The Excelsior Springs, Gladstone, Liberty, North Kansas City, Smithville, and Kansas City, Missouri police departments, along with the Clay and Ray County Sheriff’s Offices, assisted in the investigation.
Also the FBI, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Heart of America Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory, Missouri Information Analysis Center, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri State Technical Assistance Team, Missouri Search and Rescue, and Department of Homeland Security attended the case.
The investigation remains ongoing and anyone with information should contact the Excelsior Springs Police Department or call the Greater Kansas City Crime Tips Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
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