ROCKLEDGE, Fla. – A court hearing was held Wednesday for a Rockledge man accused of torturing his girlfriend for months, including keeping her in a dog cage.
News 6 partner Florida Today reported in May that Robert Carilli, 37, was charged with false imprisonment, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, battery by strangulation and tampering with a witness.
Wednesday's hearing focused on the alleged victim, who has moved away from Florida. The state is asking the judge to allow her to testify via Skype rather than attend the trial. The judge has yet to make a ruling.
In April, the woman contacted her mother about the alleged abuse and they sought the police, according to an affidavit. The woman told detectives that when she lived with Carilli he told her she was his slave and physically abused her. He hit her with a leather whip, a hair brush, zip ties and a pocket knife, according to the affidavit. He also used zip ties and duct tape on her, records show.
The home also had a handmade wooden dog cage, police said. Carilli kept the woman inside the cage sometimes for several hours and would spray water on it, the affidavit states.
Carilli posted bond and was released from jail after his arrest.
The woman told detectives Carilli took her cellphone, driver's license and Social Security card and ordered her not to leave the home, according to officials.
Detectives were granted a search warrant for Carilli's home on May 23. They removed a large wooden cage, several knives, two computers, storage devices and a suitcase with contents described as "sexual and bondage items," according to the arrest paperwork.
By August, Carilli had found the woman again, despite her moving to the Midwest, officials said. She had unknowingly connected with Carilli on Facebook when he created a fake profile impersonating another woman she knew, according to a police report.
She told police he likely got her new cell number from her Facebook profile as well and began sending text messages.
"She would block the number and then she would receive another text from Mr. Carilli from another number," Rockledge Public Safety Detective Robert Weigel said.
Weigel reviewed at least five phone numbers the woman said were used by Carilli.
"The overall tenor of these contacts is such that the victim is feeling pressure from the defendant to withhold cooperation and testimony," Weigel said.
One of the phone numbers was from a cellphone repair shop in Titusville, where as of September, Carilli worked as manager, the report states.
"Carilli makes a living on computer repair and has often bragged about his hacking skills," police wrote in their report.
One message sent to the woman included a map attachment featuring her new home. Others included expressions of love, poems and memes.
Some messages featured threats.
"You better get on your knees and obey like the submissive you are," Carilli wrote, according to one of the screenshots the woman saved from the messages and passed on to police.
But her responses indicated the woman does not want to be in a relationship with Carilli again.
"I got away from you," she wrote. "I am free of you and you cannot get me anymore. Leave me alone. And I am not scared of you anymore."
What you can do
One in six women and one in 19 men have been stalked, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here are some tips for protecting yourself, if you think you are being stalked:
- Keep track of all the times a stalker has made contact. Documents like photographs, text messages, emails, letters and time logs can help law enforcement.
- For social media users concerned about cyberstalking, adjust privacy settings to prevent anyone from automatically becoming followers or friends.
- Use a slightly altered name on social media accounts to make it harder to be found.
- Reach out to the various social media outlets directly and ask for their recommendations or help. Topics like this are important to them, so chances of getting help from a staffer are pretty high.
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