Man charged in hostage case after Facebook rescue


December 28, 2011 at 2:54p.m.

Man charged in hostage case after Facebook rescue

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah police have filed charges against a 33-year-old man they say held his girlfriend and her 17-month-old son hostage for five days until rescuers were tipped off by her plea for help on Facebook.

Troy Reed Critchfield is charged with 12 counts, including aggravated kidnapping, sodomy, rape, aggravated assault, domestic violence, child abuse and animal cruelty.

He remained in jail today on $1 million bail. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney.

Salt Lake County Jail documents say the woman posted on Saturday that she and her son would be “dead by morning” if they were not rescued, which prompted a welfare check at the home by Sandy police.

Police say the woman hid in a closet and used a laptop to post the Facebook message.