California man pleads not guilty to kidnap, torture of woman

A man accused of torturing, raping and disfiguring a woman who was held captive in his Southern California home for six months pleaded not guilty to 10 charges, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Peter McGuire, 59, of Chino Hills entered pleas Monday to charges including kidnapping, mayhem and sodomy by use of force, the San Bernardino

County district attorney's office said in a statement.

Five of the counts include special allegations that the crimes involved infliction of great bodily injury and administering a controlled substance during a sex crime, prosecutors said.

The victim had reportedly moved into McGuire's home before the kidnapping but when she decided to move out, he refused to let her leave, Sheriff's Department spokeswoman

Mara Rodriguez told the Los Angeles Times.

The 22-year-old woman was spotted at a park near the Chino Hills home last Thursday and told deputies that she had managed to escape just minutes earlier, the DA's office and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in statements.

The woman told investigators she had been tortured, physically assaulted and raped, sheriff's officials said.

“The victim had visible injuries consistent with the allegations made,” a Sheriff's Department statement said.

A search warrant was served at the home and evidence was recovered, but the suspect had fled.

He was located Saturday morning at a home in Placentia, in neighboring Orange County, and surrendered after an hourslong standoff with SWAT officers, according to officials.