Accused Rapist/Kidnapper Back in Pa., Arraigned

A man accused of holding a woman captive in a South Bethlehem boarding house for three weeks while she was beaten and raped has been returned to Pennsylvania to face charges.

Steven Kitchell, 33, was arraigned Thursday afternoon before District Judge Nancy Matos-Gonzalez on charges including kidnapping, rape and sexual assault. He was committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $2.5 million bail.

Kitchell was arrested in Newark, N.J., on June 26, but it took until Thursday for him to be extradited.

Court papers list Kitchell’s home as 826 Montclair Ave., the rooming house where he allegedly held his victim for three weeks beginning May 23.

Kitchell was renting a bedroom at the rear of the house’s third floor, where he kept his victim locked up with the help of two women identified as “Emily” and “Jessica," according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The victim told police that for the three weeks she was held, Kitchell provided her with heroin and made several attempts to get her to work for him as a prostitute.

The affidavit says that Kitchell raped the victim once, but beat her on several occasions, once shooting her in the leg with a BB gun. He also beat her in the head and face with the BB gun police said.

The affidavit says that on June 13—two days before she could escape—Kitchell showed the victim a black and silver handgun with a loaded magazine, and threatened her.

It was "Emily" who drove the victim to the boarding house and introduced her to Kitchell, who identified himself as her boyfriend, police said.

The victim stayed overnight at the house and was told the next morning that she could not leave, police said. Kitchell took her wallet, which contained her birth certificate and Social Security card, according to the affidavit. That was on May 23, police said.

The women helped Kitchell “maintain control over the victim” by watching her and accompanying her on trips to the bathroom, police said. 

The victim was able to escape on June 15 when she noticed that Kitchell left a set of keys in the room.

When she was locked alone in the room, she tested the keys to determine which was the dead-bolt lock that kept her imprisoned, police said.

After she found the right key, she took it off the ring, hid it on herself and used it to leave the room when all the occupants of the building left, police said.

After she unlocked the door, she fled to St. Luke’s Hospital where police interviewed her. By the time police went to the home to look for Kitchell, he had fled to New Jersey.