Arheel's Uncle
Senior Reporter
Grand jury accuses Cleveland man of brutal torture in attack of his girlfriend
A Cuyahoga County grand jury has indicted a Cleveland man on 18 charges involving the torture and sexual assault of his girlfriend, whom he held captive in late July.
www.cleveland.com
Grand jury accuses Cleveland man of brutal torture in attack of his girlfriend
- Published: Aug. 14, 2023, 11:28 a.m.
Preston Anderson appears in Cleveland Municipal Court earlier this month.
By
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Cuyahoga County grand jury has indicted a Cleveland man on 18 charges involving the torture and sexual assault of his girlfriend, whom he held captive in late July.
The panel last week handed up an indictment accusing Preston Anderson, 39, of rape, kidnapping, felonious assault, strangulation and retaliation. He was arraigned Monday in Common Pleas Court on the allegations. He is being held on a $250,000 bond.
Anderson was arrested Aug. 1. He is accused of several forms of abuse that Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley called brutal torture. From July 26 to 28, while holding his girlfriend inside their shared home in the city’s Fairfax neighborhood, Anderson poured boiling canola oil over her body, face and genitals, prosecutors say.
He also heated up a knife on the stove and put it inside her rectum and forced her into multiple sex acts, according to police. In addition, he also punched, kicked and strangled her, knocked her teeth out and prevented her from eating, drinking or using the bathroom, prosecutors allege.
“Her face almost looked as though it was melting,” Ervin Lee, a detective with the Cleveland domestic violence unit, testified in Cleveland Municipal Court. The case was later sent to county prosecutors.
Anderson is also under indictment in common pleas court on charges of felonious assault and domestic violence for an incident that prosecutors say occurred in March and involved the same victim.
Lee said Anderson learned he was under indictment for that case while going through his girlfriend’s mail in late July, and the discovery prompted the attacks, according to the detective.
The charges include seven counts of felonious assault, four counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of strangulation and one count of retaliation.