Deputies: Ruskin man kept woman hostage for 18 hours

RUSKIN (FOX 13) - Last month, a woman was dropped off at an abandoned home in Ruskin. Deputies with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office say she went there to meet Jerry Roberts. 

Investigators say she knew Roberts, but she may not have expected the torture deputies say she endured at his hands. 

He allegedly brought her in through the back door and then beat her, held a machete to her throat, tied her up, and raped her. 

Deputies say he held her in the empty house for 18 hours before she managed to escape.

“Anytime you have one of these cases and you find one victim you hope and pray you aren't going to find another,” said Larry McKinnon with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

However, McKinnon says Roberts had more victims.

While going through his phone, detectives say they found video of another woman, being sexually assaulted, and apparently under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

McKinnon says the woman now lives in another state and may not even have known what happened.

“She was, as you can imagine, extremely upset and shocked over the event,” McKinnon said. “[Roberts' actions in the video] definitely shows the callousness and evilness of what he's alleged to have done."

The relationship between Roberts and the woman in the video was unclear.

FOX 13 visited Roberts' home; his father was there but declined to comment. Deputies are concerned there may be more than these two victims.

“Is this case over? We don’t know. There may be other victims and so we continually look for those victims, so we ask the public, take a good look at him,” McKinnon told FOX 13.