BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A man is locked up after a woman, who was held captive for days while being raped and beaten, managed to escape while naked to a neighbor’s house, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
Charles Tanner, 51, was booked into the Brevard County jail Wednesday.
Investigators said the victim escaped Tanner’s home, 321 Pineda Street, on June 8, just before 2 a.m.
She said Tanner had held her captive for five days, forcing himself on her and beating her, ultimately causing at least two broken ribs.
[TRENDING: Police: Teens broke into $8M Florida mansion, held boxing matches during house party | 19 Central Florida restaurants make list of 100 top places to eat in state | Become a News 6 Insider (it’s free!)]
The woman said she had gone over to Tanner’s home, and the two had engaged in consensual sex, according to the affidavit for an arrest warrant.
However, the woman said Tanner became enraged when he found out she was seeing another man who was African-American, records show.
Tanner then kicked the woman in the head, deputies said. Over the next several days, the victim said Tanner would smoke methamphetamine and force himself on the woman, records show.
Deputies said Tanner would also use the victim’s phone to take pictures of the woman while she was unconscious and send them to her friends. Investigators said they were able to verify this when they recovered the victim’s phone.
In addition to the beatings, the victim said Tanner also held a knife to her cheek and threatened to slash her face and kill her, records show. Deputies said the woman was eventually able to get away while Tanner was sleeping.
Investigators said Tanner had previously been arrested in 2013 for a similar incident in which a woman was found running down a street naked claiming she had just escaped from a home after being sexually assaulted.
Tanner faces charges of sexual cyber-harassment, false imprisonment, assault, sexual battery, aggravated battery and battery.