ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — Police have charged a 41-year-old Kansas man with kidnapping, rape, and seven other felonies after he allegedly took a woman captive and forced her to stay with him for a week in a Derry Township hotel while assaulting her, both physically and sexually.
When police found Robert Allen Schlegel and the victim on Saturday, he also allegedly attempted to intimidate the woman into telling police she was staying with him willingly, according to a criminal complaint filed by Derry Township Police.
Schlegel, of Lyons Kansas, had been in a previous relationship with the victim and traveled to Pennsylvania to kidnap her, police say.
The victim was reported missing to Elizabethtown Police in Lancaster County on Sept. 4, the complaint states. She allegedly disappeared from her workplace in Derry Township, according to the complaint.
Elizabethtown Police reported her disappearance to numerous other police departments and media outlets.
On Saturday, a motorist contacted Derry Township Police and reported seeing a vehicle matching the description of the victim's car parked outside the Rio Motel near Hershey. Officers responded to the motel to conduct a welfare check, according to the complaint.
When police knocked on the door of one of the motel rooms, it was answered by Schlegel, who confirmed to police that the victim was in the room with him. When police asked to speak to the victim, she came to the door and spoke to the officers in the doorway, telling them she was all right and was spending time with Schlegel while he was in town, according to the complaint.
The Derry Township police officers contacted Elizabethtown Police to report what they had seen. A member of the Elizabethtown Police Department told the Derry Township officers that Schlegel had been in a prior relationship with the victim, was arrested in Kansas for physically abusing her, and had recently been released from prison. The Derry Township officers were asked to contact the victim again and to speak with her privately, if possible, to ensure she was staying with Schlegel willingly.
Police returned to the victim's room, but Schlegel allegedly did not comply with police requests to speak to the victim alone. The victim was then told to call Elizabethtown Police on the phone, according to the complaint. During her phone conversation, Schlegel allegedly sat next to her and attempted to listen to what she was telling the other officer, the complaint states.
During the conversation, the victim allegedly told Elizabethtown Police that she wanted to get away from Schlegel immediately. The Derry Township police officers separated the victim from Schlegel and took her to Elizabethtown to conduct a follow-up interview, the complaint states.
During her interview, the victim told police that Schlegel came to her workplace from Kansas to find her. He had previously been arrested in Kansas for kidnapping and assaulting her, according to police.
The victim told police Schlegel forced her to leave her workplace in Derry Township and go to a motel with him, allegedly threatening to kill her family by slitting their throats if she did not comply.
During her week in captivity, the victim reported that Schlegel raped her, assaulted her, and strangled her, using threats against her family to keep her compliant. The victim showed signs of physical abuse, including visible bruising, possible broken ribs, and swelling around the neck, police say.
Schlegel is charged with kidnapping, rape by forcible compulsion, rape by threat of forcible compulsion, aggravated assault, strangulation, witness intimidation, unlawful restraint, aggravated indecent assault, stalking, and simple assault, according to police.
He is being held without bail.
