Rapist who kidnapped woman and kept her caged will stay behind bars thanks to Attorney General Todd Rokita’s appeals team

Rapist who kidnapped woman and kept her caged will stay behind bars thanks to Attorney General Todd Rokita's appeals team

After committing crimes of unspeakable horror, a Posey County man will remain incarcerated after Attorney General Todd Rokita's appeals team argued successfully against the claim that the man's convictions should be overturned because of supposed ineffective assistance from trial counsel.

In 2014, Ricky House Jr. lured a woman to a trailer he shared with his girlfriend, tied her to a bed, eventually imprisoned her in a cage and repeatedly raped her over a period of 58 days. The woman eventually escaped with the help of House's girlfriend's ex-husband.

House was convicted of rape, criminal confinement, kidnapping, battery resulting in bodily injury and pointing a handgun. He was sentenced to 93 years. Following an earlier unsuccessful appeal, House filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective - a claim he took to the Indiana Court of Appeals after failing to persuade a post-conviction court.

"The details of this case are horrific and heart-breaking," Attorney General Rokita said. "I commend our team's hard work to ensure justice is done in grossly disturbing cases like this one and in every case our team works on behalf of victims and all Hoosiers."

Attorney General Rokita particularly thanked Angela Sanchez, his chief counsel of appeals, and Ellen Meilaender, the supervising deputy attorney general who handled this particular case.

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A headshot of Attorney General Rokita is available for download.

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