CONCORD (AP) ó A man charged with raping a woman whose husband is accused of arranging the encounter on Craigslist appeared in a North Carolina court Monday and was appointed a defense lawyer.
Court officials said Rodney Liverman Sr., 39, of Norwood made a first-appearance hearing in Cabarrus County District Court. He was given a court-appointed lawyer and ordered held under $250,000 bond.
Defense attorney Ben Baucom was not immediately available to comment on Liverman’s case. Liverman’s next court date is a probable cause hearing July 6.
Liverman was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree rape and three other sex offenses stemming from a May 31 attack at a Kannapolis home, about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte.
The husband of the victim was charged with first-degree rape and was being held on $200,000 bond. The Associated Press does not generally identify victims of sexual assault and is not naming the man to avoid identifying his wife.
A court document released last week said the woman’s husband only watched as she pushed a knife away from her attacker and toward him. He later told her to shower so evidence would be destroyed and not to call police, according to the document.
The U.S. Secret Service also helped track Liverman, but Kannapolis Police Capt. Chuck Adams said he would not provide details of how investigators linked Liverman to the case.
The husband was next to his wife in bed when the attacker came into their upstairs bedroom, according to the search warrant application. It said the man threatened her and demanded $3,000, then forced her to disrobe and perform oral sex on him before he began raping her.
Investigators have said the woman told them her husband’s sexual fantasy was for her to have sex with another man.