Expat sentenced to preventive detention for kidnapping

A U.S. citizen identified as Jhonathan Matthew P. was sentenced Wednesday to preventive detention in the Turi correctional facility on two counts of kidnapping. The 33-year-old was arrested Tuesday after two Colombian sex workers said they were held against their will in the suspect’s Cuenca apartment.

Jhonathan Matthew P. under arrest.

Judge Willian Sangolquí said preventive detention is required by law in kidnapping cases. The judge did not rule on a drug possession charge against the suspect and said the matter would be addressed at trial. The suspect was found with 200 grams of marijuana and cocaine.

The judge said a trial date has not yet been set.

According the police report, Jhonathan Matthew P. invited the two prostitutes to his apartment on Monday afternoon but refused to let them leave after serving them drinks they say were spiked with drugs. One of the women reportedly escaped through a bedroom room and called police.

Police released a photo of the suspect with a shaved head, wearing a a purple shirt, with his face blacked out. By Ecuadorian law, the last name of arrest suspects can only be represented by the first initial in news media.