Search warrants reveal more details about case against Zebulon man charged with holding a woman captive
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Was the Zebulon man charged with holding a German woman as a "sex slave" set up?
Robert Whiteside says the whole thing is a "misunderstanding," and his attorney and at least one of his friends agree. However, police say they have a strong case against him.
After getting out of jail on bond for a few hours on Wednesday, Whiteside was picked up again by police. Thursday afternoon, he was back in court. This time charged with a sex offense.
Whitehead was first arrested Monday at a zebulon warehouse where he lives and works.
With him was a woman from Germany who claims she came to the Triangle a week ago after responding to an online ad posted by Whiteside.
In a search warrant filed Thursday, police say Whiteside confessed to choking the woman and hitting her in the head with a glass bottle.
The woman has told police she was sexually assaulted and held against her will, but managed to get to a computer and email her estranged husband in Germany who alerted police.
A woman who claims to be a friend of Whiteside called a local radio show earlier this week saying Whitehead is a nice guy and was set up.
When he was in court Monday, Whitehead told the judge it was all misunderstanding. His attorney elaborated on that Thursday afternoon.
"These two were dating via the internet, that she flew here on her own, and that she was trying to make arrangements to go home, and she needed money from her estranged husband," said Whiteside's attorney, Robert Padovano.
The long inventory list on the search warrant from the warehouse includes a secret bedroom, a bedside handgun, four other firearms, and sex toys including a whip.
