Three women have been charged with helping a 39-year-old predatory offender repeatedly rape and assault a 21-year-old woman in a Forest Lake townhouse basement.
Two counts of aiding and abetting first-degree criminal sexual conduct were filed last week in Washington County District Court against Ta'Yonna M. Mays, 29, of Brooklyn Park, Tina R. Peet, 51, of Forest Lake, and Alena J. Turner, 27, of Brooklyn Center.
All were charged by summons and are scheduled to be in court on Feb. 5. Court records list no attorney for them, and they were not available Monday to respond to the allegations.
Charged earlier with first-degree criminal sexual conduct was Lawson T. Waples Ward, 39 and a predatory offender. He lived in the home where the two-hour assault allegedly occurred. Waples Ward has been released on bail and declined to comment.
According to the criminal complaint, the 21-year-old woman told police that on Nov. 16, Waples Ward began engaging in sexual activity with her in the basement of the home. Although she was uncomfortable, she said she did not tell him no.
The three women soon entered the basement, the charges continued. She was uneasy with the others present and wanted the sex to stop. Instead, the three women held the young woman down while Waples Ward assaulted her as she screamed for him to stop.
Waples Ward hit her with his hand and a paddle, and "asked her who her master was," the complaint read. The 21-year-old said Waples Ward enjoyed sexual bondage and sadomasochism, the charges said.
His criminal history in New Jersey includes at least one conviction for a sex offense, illegal weapons possession and robbery.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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