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A man and woman will stand trial on kidnapping and rape charges, a Calhoun County District Court judge ruled Tuesday.
Vincent T. Neely, 34, and Cecilia Frederick, 17, both of Battle Creek, are facing up to life in prison if convicted of all charges including kidnapping, first-degree criminal sexual conduct and weapons offenses.
The couple are charged with grabbing a Kalamazoo teenager, 17, as she was walking in the Post Addition neighborhood early June 17 and taking her to an apartment, where she was forced to have sex with both the defendants.
<b
>The teen said she was walking near Caine and Cliff streets about 1:50 a.m. when a man and woman she identified as Neely and Frederick stopped their car and asked if she wanted a ride. She testified before
r
Judge Samuel Durham that she said no, but "they both got out, and they
both grabbed me and put me in the car."
She was hit and kicked several times, she said, and first was driven to a wooded area and then to a store, where the man got out for a few minutes and bought beer, she told Assistant Prosecutor Michelle Richardson.
She was taken to an apartment on Burdge Street and was forced to perform oral sex on Frederick and have intercourse with Neely, she said.
The teen said the couple told her they would not hurt her, but she believed she would be killed and said she saw a gun in the apartment.
"I told her, 'Please don't kill me. I have a son,'" she said. "I said it just so they wouldn't hurt me, and she said they wouldn't hurt me.&
quot;
The teen told Defense Attorney Mark Webb, representing Neely, and Ken Marks, representing Frederick, that she was not familiar with Battle Creek and didn't know where she was driven
be
fore the apartment.
She testified that after the sexual assault, Neely fell asleep and Frederick apologized for what happene
d and allowed her to leave.
Durham agreed to send the case to circuit court for trial despite some conflicting statements the teen made about her alleged kidnapping.
"Her testimony was confusing on the (kidnapping) issue," Durham told the attorneys. "She said she was willing at first and then said, 'I couldn't do anything else and didn't have anything better to do.'"
But the judge cited testimony from the teen, who said she was afraid of the couple and did not want to stay with them.
"The testimony is convoluted, but it is an issue of fact for the jury," Durham ruled. "At some point, she stopped cons
enting."
Neely and Frederick remain in the county jail.
http:
//www.b
attlecreekenquirer.com/news/st...ews/745309.html
A man and woman will stand trial on kidnapping and rape charges, a Calhoun County District Court judge ruled Tuesday.
Vincent T. Neely, 34, and Cecilia Frederick, 17, both of Battle Creek, are facing up to life in prison if convicted of all charges including kidnapping, first-degree criminal sexual conduct and weapons offenses.
The couple are charged with grabbing a Kalamazoo teenager, 17, as she was walking in the Post Addition neighborhood early June 17 and taking her to an apartment, where she was forced to have sex with both the defendants.
<b
>The teen said she was walking near Caine and Cliff streets about 1:50 a.m. when a man and woman she identified as Neely and Frederick stopped their car and asked if she wanted a ride. She testified before
r
Judge Samuel Durham that she said no, but "they both got out, and they
both grabbed me and put me in the car."
She was hit and kicked several times, she said, and first was driven to a wooded area and then to a store, where the man got out for a few minutes and bought beer, she told Assistant Prosecutor Michelle Richardson.
She was taken to an apartment on Burdge Street and was forced to perform oral sex on Frederick and have intercourse with Neely, she said.
The teen said the couple told her they would not hurt her, but she believed she would be killed and said she saw a gun in the apartment.
"I told her, 'Please don't kill me. I have a son,'" she said. "I said it just so they wouldn't hurt me, and she said they wouldn't hurt me.&
quot;
The teen told Defense Attorney Mark Webb, representing Neely, and Ken Marks, representing Frederick, that she was not familiar with Battle Creek and didn't know where she was driven
be
fore the apartment.
She testified that after the sexual assault, Neely fell asleep and Frederick apologized for what happene
d and allowed her to leave.
Durham agreed to send the case to circuit court for trial despite some conflicting statements the teen made about her alleged kidnapping.
"Her testimony was confusing on the (kidnapping) issue," Durham told the attorneys. "She said she was willing at first and then said, 'I couldn't do anything else and didn't have anything better to do.'"
But the judge cited testimony from the teen, who said she was afraid of the couple and did not want to stay with them.
"The testimony is convoluted, but it is an issue of fact for the jury," Durham ruled. "At some point, she stopped cons
enting."
Neely and Frederick remain in the county jail.
http:
//www.b
attlecreekenquirer.com/news/st...ews/745309.html