| A 19-year-old Calhoun teenager was arrested Monday on three counts of kidnapping three juvenile females, according to Sgt. J.E. Skidmore of the WV State Police.
Thomas John McCullough of Orma is in Central Regional Jail on the kidnapping charges. No bond has been set.
A second male, identified as Seth Denmark of Beech and Spencer, will also be charged, according to a criminal complaint filed by Calhoun Sheriff Carl Ballengee.
Police are looking for Denmark to make an arrest, they said.
The complaint says Denmark and McCullough allegedly refused to release the females, ages 16, 14 and 10, after being in their custody for about 12 hours, according to Ballengee.
The girls were missing from about 3 p.m. Friday until and about 3 a.m. Saturday, their absence reported by the parents. Local authorities searched for the girls most of the night.
Police went to the Walker Rd. area about 3 a.m. Saturday, after learning the suspects were in the area.
Sheriff Ballengee, in the complaint, said he heard a commotion at the Walker church, and discovered the juveniles in a vehicle belonging to Denmark.
"The juvenile victims stated that Denmark and McCullough had provided them alcohol ... and they were not allowed to leave Denmark's vehicle," said the Sheriff.
Ballengee said in the report that the juveniles said "Numerous times they asked to be set free to go home and Denmark refused ... because police were after him and he did not want to get caught and go to jail."
The police report says the defendants were read their rights, at which time they allegedly told the Sheriff they had provided alcohol to the juveniles and the "two oldest juveniles got drunk," further indicating they were fearful about taking them home in that condition.
The report quotes the youngest juvenile requested permission to call home, which was denied.
At one point in time, according to the complaint, Denmark and McCullough "forced" the juveniles into a residence on Walker Rd. and made the "juvenile females sit on a couch. Then forced them out of the residence and back into the vehicle."
The maximum penalty for each kidnapping charge is life imprisonment.
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