FLINT (WWJ) – More charges have been filed against a man police are calling a “serial monster” after he allegedly held a pregnant Flint woman against her will, sexually assaulted her for three weeks and threatened her with filed-down teeth.
Michael Barajas, who was arrested in December and charged with a long list of felonies, including criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping is facing 20 new charges after a second victim came forward.
Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson announced Tuesday Barajas was charged with 10 counts of first-degree CSC, as well as various weapons and drug charges.
Two more suspects have been arrested, while police are searching for two others, Swanson announced as he revealed more chilling details in the case.
The latest charges against Barajas stem from a victim whose “nightmare began in 2003,” Swanson said. The victim, who was four years old at the time, is now an adult who lives out of state.
She gained the courage to share her story with police after seeing media reports about Barajas around Christmas time, according to the sheriff.
The victim was put into a situation where she was abused for four years “because of her connection as a child of an adult to Barajas’s family of adults,” Swanson said. The victim was sexually assaulted, threatened and intimidated multiple times a week until she was 8 or 9 years old. Swanson said the abuse only ended because “the relationship of the adults broke up.” Barajas was 17 or 18 years old at the time the alleged abuse started, according to Swanson.
Since learning of the abuse dating back 20 years, authorities now believe there are more victims of Barajas and a so-called “gang” of associates who helped him kidnap, sexually abuse and traffic victims.
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Swanson revealed Tuesday Barajas was training people in his organization – known as the MASAD Squad – to identify vulnerable females, take them to the location and use it as a human trafficking headquarters for people to come in and rape the victims.
One of the members of his organization, Alex Schmidt, was recently arrested. He was allegedly the driver of the yellow hummer that originally kidnapped the first identified victim around Thanksgiving in Flint.
He is in custody and has been charged with kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault.
Authorities have also arrested Juwan Housey, who has been charged with kidnapping and four counts of first-degree CSC.
The sheriff’s office is still searching for at least two other people involved in the organization, including a man known only by the street name “Lil Ryan.”
“If you know who this cat is, you call 9-1-1 and let law enforcement do our part to track him down,” Swanson said.
Authorities are also searching for Cody Lohrer, who Swanson called “an individual of interest” in the ongoing investigation. He said Lohrer was an active participant and has critical information in the case.
Swanson is encouraging any other potential victims to come forward by contacting the sheriff’s office.
Watch Swanson's full press conference:
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