According to the evidence, Blanks and O’Neill met sometime last year after one of them responded to a Craigslist ad for sexual favors. They had sexual relations multiple times during the year, according to testimony.

O’Neill, 63, said their last get-together was a week to 10 days prior to Sept. 24 of last year, when Blanks and Archie showed up at his home unannounced. He said they forced their way into the home and knocked him to the floor.

O’Neill said he looked up and saw Blanks standing over him with a knife.

Over the next five days, according to the evidence presented by Mooney, O’Neill said he was forced to make multiple trips to ATMs and various stores, including Walmart, Food Lion and the ABC store. The suspects spent O’Neill’s money on a variety of items for themselves.

The victim was whipped with belts and power cords, punched and thrown against a cabinet during the ordeal, even though he complied with the demands. He was tied up at night in various parts of his home with Christmas lights.

Before being assaulted, Barbrow called it “one of the strangest” cases he’d ever had. He noted that during an outing to a Chipotle that week, O’Neill was within a few feet of a group of state troopers yet never said a word.