A “FRIENDLY” neighbor has been arrested for allegedly keeping a young girl as a sex slave in his North Carolina home for years.
Anthony Nealy, 31, was arrested on Oct. 9 and accused of repeatedly raping a young girl under the age of 12 since January 2015, according to an arrest warrant obtained by WJZY.
Court records indicate that Nealy knew his victim and took the young child to different locations to rape her.
A neighbor, who described Nealy as a “easygoing” and likeable person, told WJZY that Nealy was investigated after the young girl told a school counselor about her trauma.
“He seemed so friendly, you know what I’m saying. He helped my fiancé mow grass, he’d help him weed eat around the yard,” the neighbor said.
Another woman who lives in the sleepy Kings Mountain nieghborhood said she’d often see Nealy walk with his victim up and down the road to go to school.”
“They’ve got toys outside and everything in the backyard. They’ve got bikes and all kinds of stuff out there but you don’t never see them come outside any day of the week,” the woman said.
Court records show that Nealy has been charged with five felony counts, including rape of a child by an adult, human trafficking of a child victim, statutory sex offense with child by an adult, sexual servitude of a child victim, and child abuse.
Nealy appeared by video in court on Monday and attempted to ask Cleveland County District Court Judge Meredith Shuford for a bond reduction, The Shelby Star reported.
But Shuford interrupted his request to deny it, the outlet reported.
“I’m not going to modify your bond today,” Shuford said.
Nealy is being held in the Cleveland County Jail in lieu of a $500,000 bond and is due back in court on Oct. 29, court records show.
