Man Accused of Holding Woman Captive in a Malden, Massachusetts Attic for Six Weeks

A landlord in Malden, Massachusetts went up to check on a water leak. What he and his wife found instead was a woman they didn't know, living behind a door whose handle had been taken off from the inside.

Police say the woman had been held in that attic, on Summer Street, for roughly six weeks. On September 29, prosecutors charged 29-year-old Jordende Pierre with trafficking a person for sexual servitude, kidnapping, and indecent assault and battery.

Property owner Qing Sun and her husband went up to the attic on September 20 to deal with a water leak, according to NBC News. Instead they found a woman alone in the space, naked and malnourished, lying on a mat. The handle on the attic door had allegedly been removed -- a detail investigators say pointed to the room being used to keep her from leaving.

According to Assistant Middlesex District Attorney Jacob McCrindle, Pierre first made contact with the woman through a dating app and picked her up from a rehabilitation facility. Prosecutors allege he then supplied her with drugs, sexually assaulted her, and arranged paid encounters between her and other men over the roughly six weeks she was held in the attic. Pierre was arraigned and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Pierre's arrest came out of a joint operation between Malden police, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshals Service, NBC Boston reported. His next court hearing is scheduled for October 6. Investigators have said they have not ruled out additional arrests as the case continues.

The woman's current condition has not been detailed publicly. IF Daily will follow the case through Pierre's October 6 hearing and any further charges that come out of the ongoing investigation.