This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A long-haul truck driver pleaded guilty on Wednesday to transporting child pornography, but still faces trial on four counts related to the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault of two women as he drove around the country.
Timothy Jay Vafeades, 55, faces a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years, as well as a fine of up to $250,000, on the child porn charge.
Federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss a charge of possession of child pornography but a three-week jury trial on the four remaining charges is set to begin on July 5 before U.S. District Judge David Nuffer.
In the plea agreement, Vafeades admitted that in 2012 and 2013 he transported child pornography on computer hard drives in his truck as he traveled around the country.
Vafeades was charged in March 2014 with kidnapping and sexually assaulting two women who he allegedly kept in his truck for lengthy periods.
Since then, FBI agents have identified four other women who said they had similar experiences with Vafeades, according to court documents.
The women allege they were held captive by Vafeades, who took their identifications and cell phones, forced them to shower with him and sleep naked, forbade them from looking at other people and beat them repeatedly while also sexually assaulting them almost every day, according to court documents.
He allegedly used a Dremel power tool to grind off the teeth of at least three victims, and on one he also used an X-Acto knife so she could wear false teeth.
"Valfeades had his own set of false teeth with vampire fangs on them," according to a 2014 criminal complaint.
He also cut and dyed the hair of several of the women. Vafeades allegedly assaulted the victims after gaining some measure of control over them by marrying them or luring them into his truck.