Report: Parents kidnap homeless man accused of molesting 5-year-old daughter
Man was babysitting, then held at knifepoint in basement; no charges filed
Spokane police are investigating claims that a 19-year-old homeless man sexually abused a 5-year-old girl, whose parents retaliated by tying him up in their basement and holding him at knifepoint.
In the three to four months leading up to the alleged assault and kidnapping on May 20, the parents had befriended the homeless man and occasionally allowed him to stay at their home, according to a search warrant filed last week in Spokane County Superior Court.
The parents left the man to babysit their 2- and 5-year-old daughters while they went grocery shopping for about an hour, they told police.
Both parents returned home, and shortly afterward the husband left again to meet a friend. He then received numerous text messages from his wife, who said there was an emergency at home, he told detectives.
The wife said while bathing her daughters, she found dime-sized bruises on the 5-year-old’s thighs and redness on her genitals. The daughter later told police “details about being molested” by the homeless man.
The man, who had been sitting in the living room, became upset and was preparing to leave, the wife said. She grabbed a knife and ordered the man to sit back down while she texted her husband, she told police.
The husband returned home again, brought the homeless man to the basement and tied him to a folding chair. The wife admitted to knocking the man over and lunging at him with the knife. She told police she “was going to cut his heart out” as “payback for what he had done.”
The couple then called the wife’s mother, who advised them to let the homeless man go, which they did. They reported the incident to police two days later, on May 22. The homeless man reported being held in the basement on May 24.
Police are investigating the situation.
An attempt to reach the parents at their home Tuesday evening was unsuccessful. As no charges have been filed against them or the homeless man, The Spokesman-Review is withholding their names and other identifying information.