CUT OFF, La. — A man is accused of first-degree rape, false imprisonment and other charges after allegedly holding a mother and her teenage daughter against their will over the weekend before they escaped, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff said.
According to Sheriff Craig Webre, the mother and daughter were in a home in Cut Off on the afternoon of Friday, July 12, hours before Hurricane Barry rolled over Lafourche Parish and knocked out power for a majority of the area.
They were with 52-year-old Morgan Ratley, of Cut Off, in the home around 5 p.m. when he allegedly approached the mother and tried to tape her to a chair with duct tape, Webre said.
The woman resisted, officials said, and her daughter, a teenager, tried to call the police. Ratley took her phone, however, and then taped the mother to the chair.
From there, the next two days were spent with Ratley reportedly releasing the woman from the chair but not letting her or her daughter leave the home. At one point over the weekend, Ratley raped one of the victims, officials said, but did not clarify which victim was sexually assaulted.
After two days in the home, the pair was able to escape and made it to the South Lafourche Sub-Station to notify the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office around 10 a.m. Sunday.
An investigation was opened, and shortly after deputies located Ratley and arrested him. He was booked into the Lafourche Parish Correctional Complex on charges of first-degree rape, sexual battery, domestic abuse battery and false imprisonment.
His bail was set at $135,000, officials said.
The identities of the victims are being withheld for their protection, officials said, as is their relationship with the suspect.
No further information was available.