Man accused of holding woman captive in Massachusetts attic for six weeks

By Alex Stambaugh, Hanna Park, CNN

(CNN) — A man is accused of kidnapping a woman he met on a dating app, holding her captive in a Boston-area attic and sexually assaulting her for six weeks before she was rescued.

Jordende Pierre, 29, was arrested Thursday in Malden, Massachusetts, after the woman was found earlier this month in the attic of an apartment building, undressed on a mat and lying near a bucket of urine, according to CNN affiliates WCVB and WFXT.

“She clearly had not eaten, she was dirty, she was living essentially in squalor in this attic area,” prosecutors said in court Friday.

The woman, who has not been identified, was found September 20 by the apartment’s landlord and alerted authorities after arriving at the scene to fix a leak, prosecutors say.

“(The woman) was recovered and was brought to a safe place with her family,” Malden Police Chief Marc Gatcomb told WFXT.

A human trafficking investigation was launched and a joint agency operation, involving US Marshals and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, arrested Pierre at the location days later, the US Marshals Service said in a statement.

Pierre has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, human trafficking, and indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, according to affiliates.

Documents in the case were ordered impounded Friday, WFXT told CNN.

CNN has reached out to Malden Police, the FBI, the US Marshals Service and the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors say Pierre met the woman on a dating app, picked her up from a rehabilitation facility and brought the woman back to the apartment, where he gave her drugs and forced the woman to engage in sexual encounters with at least six other men for money.

“She was then forced to engage in sexual encounters with men who would come to the house on dates that were arranged by this defendant,” prosecutors said in court footage aired by WCVB.

The woman was held against her will and the door handle of the attic was removed, preventing her from leaving the attic area, according to prosecutors.

The landlord, Qing Sun, told NBC10 Boston in an exclusive interview that she and her husband had visited the property to check on a water leak. She said she called authorities after she discovered the woman.

“It’s a disturbing situation,” Sun said in a phone interview. “I’m very happy to be able to help this young girl get back to her family.”

Sun said Pierre was not one of her tenants and that she had no knowledge of anyone living in the attic, NBC10 reported.

“The allegations in this case are deeply disturbing. No person should ever be subjected to the violence, exploitation and loss of freedom alleged here,” said Dennis Matulewicz, head of the US Marshals Service for the District of Massachusetts, in a statement.

“When someone is accused of preying upon another person in this manner, the U.S. Marshals Service and our law enforcement partners will work relentlessly to find them and bring them before the court,” he added.

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