Man beat, raped and starved woman while holding her captive for 5 days: cops
A Florida man has been accused of brutally raping, battering and starving a woman while holding her captive for five days — before she managed to escape and call for help.
Charles Tanner, 51, was arrested Wednesday in Brevard County on charges of sexual battery, aggravated battery, felony battery, false imprisonment, aggravated assault and sexual cyberharassment.
He remained held at the county jail without bond Friday pending his arraignment, which has been scheduled for July 26.
According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant that was obtained by The Post, the incident came to light on June 8, after the alleged victim, identified only by her initials, A.H., showed up at a neighbor’s home in the middle of the night while naked and covered in bruises.
The document described in harrowing detail how the woman was repeatedly violated — including with a cucumber and a corn cobb — and battered, whipped with an electrical cord, denied food and water, and threatened with a knife.
The victim told investigators that she has known Tanner for five years and had been in a relationship with him, which ended a month ago.
She said that on June 3, she had gone to Tanner’s home after he offered to give her any drugs she wanted, according to the court filing.
After “enjoying her high” for a couple of hours, the woman claimed that Tanner demanded sex from her as payment.
The pair had consensual sex for an hour, but the the situation took a violent turn when the woman revealed to Tanner that she had had a tryst with another man during their relationship.
“The defendant then kicked A.H. in the head,” the affidavit read. “Over the next several days the defendant would beat A.H. with a closed fist an berate her about being unfaithful during their relationship]”, the affidavit stated.
Throughout the ordeal, Tanner allegedly smoked methamphetamines, force himself on the woman, or made her perform oral sex on him “to the point of her vomiting into a bucket,” the document stated.
The woman said she was sexually battered at least 10 times during her captivity, including raping her with a “plastic sex toy, a cucumber and a corn cob,” the filing claimed.
Tanner also allegedly took pictures with the victim’s phone of himself penetrating her, and sent those images to her friends and her father on Facebook while she was going in and out of consciousness.
To prevent the woman from escaping at night, Tanner allegedly slept on top of her, or in a recliner blocking the bedroom door.
The victim claimed that Tanner repeatedly told her he was gong to kill her, and on one occasion he allegedly held a butcher knife to her cheek.
Another time, Tanner, who was becoming more paranoid because of his prolonged use of methamphetamine, warned the woman that if cops showed up at his home, he would “slit her throat with a knife,” according to the affidavit.
After five days of rapes and beatings, which left the woman with two broken ribs, she ultimately managed to slip from underneath Tanner as he slept, and ran for help to a neighbor’s home.
According to investigators, Tanner has a criminal history in Florida, which includes a 2013 case, in which he was arrested on similar charges after a woman was seen running naked from his home.
The victim in that case told cops that she was held against her will by Tanner for several days, during which time he allegedly beat and raped her, and used her phone to film himself urinating and defecating on her.