No bond for suspect in 3 rapes, judge says
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Arthur Henderson
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A man charged with three rapes who was previously being held on $3.5 million bail is now being held without bond.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning said Tuesday that he believed there was no combination of restrictions that could ensure public safety if Arthur Henderson was granted bond.
Mr. Henderson, 38, was arrested Thursday and charged with raping two women in Ross. He also was charged on Friday with another rape in Hopewell, Beaver County.
During a bail hearing Tuesday, Allegheny County pretrial services recommended that Mr. Henderson's bail be revoked.
But defense attorney Blaine Jones said that was unnecessary.
"At what point in time does this become punitive?" he asked. "The revocation of the bond serves no purpose. He has no money whatsoever. His family has no money."
But Deputy District Attorney Laura Ditka said Mr. Henderson was dangerous and went on "an extremely violent crime spree" over a 72-hour period.
During one assault, at the Cascades Apartments in Ross, Mr. Henderson is accused of tying up a man, then attacking his fiancee, binding her with duct tape and raping her in the same bedroom where the couple's 4-month-old infant was in a crib.
Mr. Henderson, who previously had been picked up and interviewed by police, was arrested after a DNA sample came back as a match.
"He refused to turn himself in," Ms. Ditka said. "The defendant had to be trapped and gassed out of the house."
As Ms. Ditka spoke to the court during the hearing, Mr. Henderson sneered and shook his head.
The prosecutor later characterized that behavior as an "inability to control oneself and to comport to any kind of human decency.
Mr. Henderson is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing today in Ross.
First Published January 25, 2012 12:00 am
