"He snuck in and did it:" 19-year-old woman, tied up in basement for sex, escapes when suspect left for court
MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee man is facing charges, accused of tying up a woman in the basement of a Milwaukee home, and forcing her to have sex with multiple men.
There was a disturbing secret in the basement of the home on Milwaukee's north side.
"I didn't have an (expletive) thing to do with this. He snuck in. He snuck in and did it," the homeowner said.
Benjamin Hooks
The 69-year-old woman who owns the three-family home said she didn't know what was taking place below her feet during the fall of 2016. Police say 24-year-old Benjamin Hooks had a 19-year-old woman tied up in the basement for sex.
According to a criminal complaint, the 19-year-old came to live at the home in order to care for the 69-year-old homeowner. The victim told police "soon after, people started showing up and taking over the house," including Hooks.
"Some guys come in -- they push right in and they start going around," the homeowner said.
Investigators said Hooks kept the woman locked up -- sometimes forcing her to wear a dog collar and stay in a dog cage. Police said Hooks would blindfold her while she was forced to have sex with multiple men while she was tied down. The victim said she "would usually get one to two meals each day," which she had to share with a pit bull that was locked in the room with her.
"There are just groups of guys -- people -- who are around the neighborhood. Groups of people, right? He came in, snuck in after someone moved out," the homeowner said.
The victim said she was able to escape when Hooks left the house for a court appearance. Records show Hooks is facing charges in a separate case involving human trafficking. The victims in that case are a 20-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl.
Another man leaving the home on Tuesday called Hooks a "good guy," and said "I don't know anything about that," when presented with the allegations against Hooks.
Hooks has a total of three open cases, filed between January and May of 2017.
In a case filed in January, Hooks faces one count of substantial battery, intentional bodily harm, habitual criminality repeater.
In early May, he was charged with first degree sexual assault, use of a dangerous weapon, habitual criminality repeater, false imprisonment, habitual criminality repeater, and possession of a firearm by a felon, habitual criminality repeater.
In late May, he was charged with human trafficking as party to a crime, trafficking a child, child abuse, intentionally causing harm and second degree sexual assault of a child.