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Houston man charged for holding woman captive
The Houston man accused of holding a woman captive in his garage for years is back behind bars. FOX 26's Damali Keith reports more on the man after he was accused of repeatedly contacting his alleged victim while he was out on bond.
HOUSTON - The man accused of holding a woman captive in his garage for years is now back behind bars. Lee Carter is accused of repeatedly contacting his alleged victim while he was out of jail on bond.
According to prosecutors, Carter just wouldn't leave his accuser alone. Now, his bond has been revoked and he's back in jail.
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"Mr. Carter has not been abiding by this court's orders," Harris County Associate Judge Sherlene Cruz says from the bench. So Lee Carter's $100K bond has been revoked, and another charge has been added.
"We learned new information about the defendant continuing to contact the complainant in our case. We decided to file the third-degree felony of violation of a protective order for multiple instances within 12 months," explains Prosecutor Melissa Hoffman.
Carter was arrested shortly after arriving for a bond revocation hearing, because he was to have no contact with the woman he's accused of holding captive in his garage for years.
"He was calling her. She's currently in the hospital, and he was contacting her in front of detectives," says Hoffman.
In the hearing, a Houston Police Detective testified Carter was on the phone with his accuser as the officer visited her yesterday and Carter's Attorney George Powell asks the officer, "It sounds like he was concerned with where she would go when she was discharged, right?" And the detective answers. "Yes sir." Powell then asks, "but he never asked her to do or say anything on his behalf, did he?" and the detective says, "No sir."
The prosecutor later counters, "He isn't calling the hospital just about caring for her. It's about continuing to exert control."
The defense maintains Carter and the woman had a consensual relationship and says these accusations have been made because, "There are some issues with substance abuse as well as mental health."
But the real estate broker and local rapper known as Viper is accused of sexually assaulting the woman and plying her with pills, so she wouldn't escape.
"I believe there was also crack cocaine involved," the detective said on the stand. Hoffman asks, "Made by who to take drugs?" and the detective answers, "Made by the defendant."
"We don't think her health is safe around his presence and, as far as potential sex crimes or anything else, we are very worried something else is going to happen to her. She does seem to depend on him," Hoffman told the judge.
"We have people that will demonstrate there was no kidnapping," Powell says. Two of those people testified in Thursday's hearing, including Carter's father, saying the alleged victim visited his home four to five years as his son's girlfriend.
"During those times at your home, was she ever attempting to escape, just run out of your home or anything like that?" Powell asks and Carter's father answers, "No."
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A woman, who has two daughters with Carter, also told the judge and us she saw the woman coming and going freely.
"He's not an aggressive person. He's not what he's been made out to be. I've known him 19 years, and I've never had any kind of domestic violence, him being aggressive toward me or anything else," the woman says.
The alleged victim was said to be pregnant and panhandling when she met Carter and now has a 3-year-old child with him. According to the defense, all of the woman's children have been adopted out, and Powell says even those CPS records will ultimately prove his client's innocence.
Now that his bond has been revoked, Carter will remain in jail until his trial.