New details in Post case of alleged kidnapping

A Post resident is accused of using a blow torch to assault a woman he allegedly held captive in a cabin for weeks.

Undersheriff John Gautney told NewsChannel 21 Thursday an acquaintance of Josef Taylor was locked in his cabin off SE Osprey Road for about 20 days. Gautney said the cabin had locked metal screens on the outside of the windows.

The woman told authorities Taylor also threatened to kill her.

Gautney said he could not give details on how the woman escaped last week, but confirmed she had minor injuries resulting from the blow torch.

Officials with the Crook County District Attorney’s Office would not say where the woman is currently living, but did say she is originally from Washington state.

In a news release Wednesday, Undersheriff John Gautney said the woman ran to neighbors for help after she got free, and responding deputies then executed a search warrant on the property, where evidence of the kidnapping and assault were found.

Gautney said other evidence indicated Taylor had also committed several acts of burglary and theft in the area.

The woman, who NewsChannel 21 is not identifying, lived in the cabin at one time, but was not currently residing there.

Court documents stated Taylor committed domestic violence when he put the victim in “fear of imminent, serious injury by burning (her) with a blow torch.”

Taylor also was charged with several counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Records show he was convicted of third-degree assault in King County, Washington in 2011.