A Texas rapper and real estate broker has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a pregnant woman and locking her in his garage for years.
Lee Carter, 52 — also known as Viper — was formally charged Thursday after Houston police responded to his home last year on a report of a kidnapping, according to a complaint obtained by HuffPost. There, officers found the woman, who told them that she had been trapped inside, the document said.
The woman told police that she was abducted about four or five years prior while pregnant and panhandling on the street.
According to the complaint, Carter had approached the woman to give her $1 and later returned to ask if she needed help, before telling her to get in his car. The woman told officers that she was “vulnerable” and, “against her better judgement,” got into his vehicle to leave with him.
When the woman arrived at Carter’s home, she was allegedly locked inside his garage. After that point, Carter repeatedly forced her to do drugs and have sex with him, only feeding her “chips and snacks,” police said.
The woman told officers that she never saw anyone inside Carter’s home but would sometimes overhear him fighting with other women. She would occasionally beg Carter to let her leave and made many failed attempts to get out, the complaint said.
In one instance, the woman said that she tried to escape when fire department and police personnel arrived at Carter’s home. The woman recalled breaking a window in the garage and crawling out, but “she ended up getting taken to the hospital, where [Carter] … picked her up” to take her back to his residence, the complaint said.
On April 7, the woman contacted police through the communication platform TextNow after Carter allowed her to use his laptop, according to the document.
When police found her, she weighed about 70 pounds and stated that she had not showered for two months. Inside the garage, fire officials found a makeshift toilet that did not flush and a mattress covered with fresh vomit, according to the complaint.
It’s unclear whether the woman gave birth and, if so, what happened to the baby.
A neighbor told officers that Carter once said he had three women in his residence and also owned other homes where he “kept women,” the document said. The neighbor said that Carter described the women as “ungrateful” because they “want more food and drugs.”
As Viper, Carter is perhaps most well known for the 2008 album “You’ll Cowards Don’t Even Smoke Crack.” Uploads of his music have received millions of views on YouTube.
According to corporate records and the Texas Real Estate Commission, Carter is also a real estate broker who owns and operates a moving company in Houston, registered to the address where he allegedly held the woman.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.
