Man repeatedly raped homeless woman in abandoned building, Columbus police say

A 54-year-old homeless man is accused of stalking and raping a homeless woman at an abandoned apartment building in Columbus.

Police say Leslie Baskinbey first assaulted the woman in the vacant building on May 30, when patrol officers made a report of the incident and took the woman to a shelter. But she later left, and detectives trying to follow up on the case later were unable to find her, said Cpl. Tom Shelton.

On June 14, Shelton was called to a hospital where the woman told him Baskinbey had attacked her again in the same building, the detective said. Both of the woman’s eyes were blackened from a beating, he said.

The victim said Baskinbey was stalking her, claiming that she is his wife and has to do what he says, said Shelton.

The detective said he noticed the woman had a large kitchen knife, which she said she found in the vacant building and had hoped to use to fend Baskinbey off, but he took it from her and raped her again, before he fell asleep and she slipped away to go the hospital.

On Friday, a shelter where the woman had stayed got a call from a man claiming to be the woman’s son, Shelton said, but the call came from a Columbus number, and the son lives in Vermont. Shelton got the number from the shelter and called it, and found he was talking to Baskinbey, who told him, “I need help. I need counseling,” the officer said.

As they kept talking, Shelton learned Baskinbey was at the abandoned building, and the woman was with him. Shelton asked to speak with her, and told her to say a number if she felt she was in danger. “Three o’clock,” she replied.

Police rushed to the building and found Baskinbey there with the woman, Shelton said.

Baskinbey was charged with rape and battery with visible harm. Judge Julius Hunter found probable cause to send the case to Muscogee Superior Court.