LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Deputies say a Laurel County woman was held against her will in her own home and beaten by her nephew.
Now that nephew is behind bars, and neighbors say they’re hoping the woman will get the help she needs.
Neighbors say they’ve often done what they felt they could do to help the woman, who lives along Echo Valley Road.
“She needed to get out of that situation bad, yeah,” said a neighbor who did not wish to be identified. “Of course there was anger that it had been done to her, that she had been taken advantage of in such a way and treated in such a way, like, no one deserves.”
Laurel County deputies arrested 41-year-old Freddy Humfleet and charged him with assault and unlawful imprisonment. Officials said Humfleet kept his aunt from leaving her home for nearly three days and beat her.
“This lady was assaulted very aggressively,” said Deputy Gilbert Acciardo. “She was assaulted all over her body. She had bruises on her chest, on her back, on her arms, on her legs.”
Acciardo said some of her bruises were consistent with choking. He said she even had marks that looked like stab wounds.
“She just needs help,” he said. Officials added that the woman’s injuries were not considered life-threatening.
