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TWIN FALLS, Idaho — An Idaho man is accused of keeping a woman as a sex slave for 18 months in a home that was boarded up and booby trapped with electrical wire, authorities said. Oscar Ayala-Arizmendi, 36, was charged with first-degree kidnapping, rape and possession of a controlled substance, according to the (Twin Falls, Idaho) Times-News. Bail was set Wednesday in Twin Falls County Magistrate Court at $1 million and likely will be moved to 5th District Court.
The 27-year-old woman escaped April 8 from a house in Buhl, a town of about 5,000 residents, and made a report April 26 after she was arrested on a drug charge and in jail, authorities say. The victim is not being identified because of the nature of the accusations.
She told police that Ayala-Arizmendi forced her to use methamphetamine, sometimes held a gun to her head, beat her with a 2-by-4, and often placed a rope around her neck to lead her around the house like a dog. The suspect moved her to two houses in the town and raped her multiple times.
She tried to escape several times, which resulted in additional beatings, and was able to get out successfully only with the help of her brother and three other people, Detective John Koning of the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.
The suspect also threatened to "cut her up into small pieces and flush her down the toilet" if she attempted to leave the house, according to police documents. But at times, three or four, she told police that she was allowed to leave the house but would then return under the threat of harm or death.
Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs said Thursday that following the woman's report, police worked for the next 2½ weeks to collect enough evidence to make the arrest.
Buhl, about 15 miles west of Twin Falls and 120 miles southeast of Boise, is better known for trout fishing than sex crimes. Officials reported two rapes to the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System in 2012, the most recent year available, and had not had any reported rapes in 2010 or 2011.
Authorities searched Ayala-Arizmendi's house Tuesday near U.S. 30 and reported finding chains and locks mounted to walls and floors, chains on exterior doors, a handgun, and an electrical wire system intended to shock anyone trying to escape.
Ben Andersen, Ayala-Arizmendi's public defender, did not immediately return a call Thursday from The Associated Press.
At night the victim reported that Ayala-Arizmendi would lock the two of them in a bedroom made secure with a metal gate fastened and locked to the inside of the door. She said she was forced to use a wastebasket as a toilet.
Detectives found a metal waste can with urine in it when they searched the house Tuesday, Koning said.
The house also had security cameras mounted around it with monitors in the bedroom, the detective said.
Ayala-Arizmendi's next court appearance is scheduled for May 23. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials also are investigating Ayala-Arizmendi's legal status in this country.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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