Nine Mile Falls man accused of violently raping woman he met on dating website
Police arrested a man Wednesday on suspicion he attacked and repeatedly raped a Spokane woman he met on a dating website.
The suspect, Michael R. Henry, 32, from Nine Mile Falls, is facing three counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping, one count of burglary and one count of assault with a weapon. He is being held on a $250,000 bond in the Spokane County Jail.
Henry matched with the victim on the website PlentyofFish.com in August and they chatted online until early February, when they met in person, court records state.
The two were in a relationship for about two weeks, court records state.
On Feb. 16, Henry was driving the victim to a date at Northern Quest Casino, and on the drive “somehow found out she had texted another male friend,” court records state. Henry cursed and yelled at the victim, and she asked him to take her home, which he did, but he apologized before she left and they decided to continue the date.
At the casino, the argument restarted and the woman threw a drink in Henry’s face after he cursed at her. She left the casino and attempted to call a cab, but Henry allegedly followed her out, grabbed her by the neck and hair and forced her into his truck and drove off.
On the drive home, Henry allegedly punched her in the face multiple times. At one point he pulled over and allegedly forced her to perform oral sex while he verbally abused her. After reaching her house, where no one else was home at the time, Henry allegedly followed her inside and raped her in multiple rooms while choking and biting her at times, court documents state.
The woman told investigators she continually attempted to resist verbally and physically.
Henry had told her that he was a police officer in the Air Force, which caused her to hesitate in reporting the incident, according to documents. However, the next day she reported the alleged rape and went to the emergency room for a sexual assault examination.
Detectives observed her injuries and reviewed surveillance footage and receipts from the meals at the casino. The woman identified Henry from his driver’s license photo and Henry was arrested at his home in Nine Mile Falls.