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SALT LAKE CITY — Criminal charges have been filed against a Salt Lake man accused of forcing a woman into prostitution, holding her hostage and assaulting her when she tried to get help — and then threatening her again after getting out of jail.
The disturbing case came to light on Feb. 19 when a woman went to Unified police to report that for over a year, Terry Lee Lafaver — her boyfriend — had been arranging for other men to pay to have sex with her, according to charges filed Friday in 3rd District Court.
She told Lafaver, 34, she did not want to participate, but he "grabbed her by the neck and told her that she would perform these acts," according to the charges.
Police later learned that the next day, on Feb. 20, she was forced to perform sexual acts on three men who all paid Lafaver, the charges state.
After meeting with police, the woman took a witness statement form to fill out, and then hid it in some luggage. On Feb. 23, Lafaver found the letter and dragged the woman by her hair upstairs and hit her in the head for "snitching," according to the charging documents. He then allegedly kicked her in the ribs and "tied her wrists behind her back with the belt of a robe," and placed his foot on her head while he smoked drugs.
Lafaver then tied one of the woman's legs to the footboard of a bed, the other leg to the headboard, raped her twice, put heroin inside her, and strangled her several times until she passed out, the charges state.
"After (she) woke up, she saw that her hands were bound by an electrical cord to the bed and a bandana was in her mouth," police wrote.
- The Utah Department of Human Services has a statewide, 24-hour hotline for victims of domestic violence at 1-800-897-LINK (5465) and a child abuse and neglect hotline at 1-800-323-DCFS (3237).
After Lafaver fell asleep, the woman used hair gel to get out of her restraints and call 911. Lafaver was arrested and taken to the Salt Lake County Jail.
But he bailed out on Feb. 24 and went right back to the house, despite a court order not to contact the woman, police said. When the woman arrived at home, Lafaver grabbed her neck and shoulder from behind "and told her that they needed to talk," according to the charges.
The woman was able to break free, get back into her car and lock the doors. Lafaver later sent threatening text messages to the woman, according to the charges. Detectives determined the number he sent the texts from was the same one advertised in an online escort service that included a photograph of the woman.
Lafaver was booked back into the Salt Lake County Jail on Friday. Bail was set at $750,000.
Lafaver was charged with 10 felonies and 2 misdemeanors, including: aggravated kidnapping, two counts of rape, and forcible sodomy, first-degree felonies; aggravated assault, three counts of aggravated exploitation of prostitution, and drug distribution, second-degree felonies; and retaliation against a witness, a third-degree felony.
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting YWCA, Women in Jeopardy, 801-537-8600, or the Domestic Violence Hotline, 800-897-LINK.
