NH Man Accused of Kidnapping, Sexually Assaulting Teen Waives Arraignment

Nathaniel Kibby was scheduled to be arraigned this week

A New Hampshire man charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a teen has waived arraignment and entered not guilty pleas.

Nathaniel Kibby was scheduled to be arraigned on more than 200 charges in Coos and Carroll counties this week, but his lawyer filed court paperwork Friday waiving the hearings.

The next step in the case will be the issuing of a dispositional conference order by the judge in each case. This will include dates for depositions, major motions, jury selection and trial, discovery deadlines, and more. Those orders are not expected to be issued for another 6 to 8 weeks.

Kibby, 34, was indicted last month on charges including kidnapping, sexual assault, robbery, criminal threatening, illegal use of a gun and illegal use of an electronic restraint device. More than 150 of the indictments were heavily blacked-out. The charges carry penalties that could effectively send Kibby to prison for life if convicted.

He allegedly kidnapped the girl, who turned 15 a week after she disappeared, and imprisoned and sexually assaulted her over a nine month period. The girl disappeared on Oct. 9, 2013, and returned home last July.

According to the indictments, Kibby threatened to kill the girl, her family and her pets and used a "taser-like" device to punish her when she "carved" information about his identity in a letter to her mother. Prosecutors say he forced her to lie in that letter and made her rewrite it. As he began to fear an investigation, Kibby put a gun in her hand and told her it would be better to shoot him than give authorities any information, according to the indictments. He also forced her to wipe down the surfaces of a shipping container outside his trailer to remove her fingerprints and to pour cleaning fluid into plumbing drains to remove hair or DNA evidence, the indictments say.

Kibby also is accused of falsifying evidence by destroying or removing gags, anti-barking dog collars, a fake surveillance camera and an aquarium pump with tubing that had been used to provide the girl with water when she was restrained on a bed.

The charges say Kibby gagged the girl, put a shirt over her head and face, then put a motorcycle helmet over that. During her confinement, he used the stun gun to control her, made her wear a shock collar, bound her wrists with zip ties and taped her eyes shut, the indictment said.

Kibby told the girl he would only release her if she lied to police about what had happened and what he looked like, the indictments say.

Kibby has been held on $1 million bail since his arrest at his home in Gorham, about 30 miles from the girl's home. He has a criminal history dating to 1998, including convictions on simple assault, criminal trespass and breach of bail conditions.

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