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SALT LAKE CITY — A Murray man accused of holding two young women hostage in his long-haul truck and sexually abusing them for months was arraigned in federal court Monday.
Timothy Jay Vafeades, 53, pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, transportation for illegal sexual activity and possession of child pornography. U.S. District Magistrate Judge Evelyn Furse ordered that he remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Authorities returned Vafeades to Utah after arresting him last November in Clay County, Minnesota, where a trooper realized the female passenger in his truck had a lifetime protective order issued against him in 1999 in Florida.
Prosecutors allege Vafeades sexually and physically abused the two women — one in 2012 and the other in 2013 — including filing their teeth with a small drill and an Xacto knife. The women told investigators Vafeades, who owned a small trucking company called Twilight Express, was obsessed with vampires.
