A Washington jury last week convicted a Tacoma man on kidnapping and sexual assault charges after he held a woman captive in his garage for weeks, according to court records and local news.
Henry Hauser, a 56-year-old repeat sex offender, could face life in prison without parole for his crimes, and he is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, according to FOX 13 Seattle.
The victim, who was homeless at the time of the crime, told police that Hauser offered her a place to stay in his garage on Nov. 10, 2021, according to court records.
"She said that after going to the defendant's garage, they hung out for a period of time," Pierce County deputy prosecuting attorney Scott Peters wrote in an affidavit at the time. "At some point she became uncomfortable and went to leave. The defendant grabbed her and restrained her by bind[ing] her to a truck with a chain."
The victim told police that Hauser chained her ankle to his truck and drugged her for more than two weeks, causing "memory issues."
"She said the defendant would make statements to her like he was acting out a fantasy. He would ask her if she wanted to be hurt, he would [say] he was going to kill her slowly, but other times would say he wanted to ‘keep’ her," the affidavit states.
Hauser repeatedly sexually assaulted the victim in his garage until Nov. 28, 2021, when he left the key in her proximity and she was able to break free from Hasuer's residence and seek help.
READ THE AFFIDAVIT:
Tacoma police arrested Hauser at Walmart on Dec. 2, 2021, according to FOX 13.
A Walmart loss prevention officer tracked the suspect down on surveillance video footage after he used the victim's food stamps to purchase groceries, the outlet reported.
Hauser was a level 3 sex offender at the time of his arrest and had cut off his ankle monitor. In 2014, he was convicted of kidnapping a 16-year-old girl at knifepoint and taking her back to his residence, where he gave her methamphetamine and sexually assaulted her, according to Pierce County records.
He was also convicted of second-degree kidnapping with a deadly weapon and felony harassment in 2007, as FOX 13 reported.
