Elkhart couple charged with kidnapping, beating Michigan woman

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article contains descriptions of graphic violence. 

ELKHART, Ind. -- Two Elkhart residents are accused of kidnapping, beating, and sexually abusing a Michigan woman allegedly in retaliation for a fight one of the suspects had with the victim in the sixth grade. 

Twenty-nine-year-olds Fredrick Young and Tara Mollett have been charged with Attempted Rape, Attempted Rape with Extreme Pain, Criminal Confinement with Extreme Pain, and Aggravated Battery with Substantial Risk of Death.

Around 2:48 a.m. on Sept. 23, officers responded to a residence in the 300 block of N. Riverside Drive in Elkhart after neighbors called and reported two women fighting and someone screaming for help.

When officers arrived, Mollett opened the door, and the victim came running out behind her. An officer on the scene said the victim grabbed him, begged him to save her, and advised that her four-year-old and two-year-old children were still in the house. 

Court documents indicate that Mollett and the victim knew each other as kids but did not talk after a fight in the sixth grade. The two recently reconnected on Facebook and have been texting and talking on the phone on Sept. 22.  

Mollett drove to Zeeland, Mich. to pick up the victim and their kids and brought them back to her residence in Elkhart. 

The victim claims the day was going well until Mollett began getting aggravated and bringing up the fight in sixth grade. The victim said they took two different walks around the area just to get out of the house and away from Mollett while she was angry. 

When she got back to the house after her second walk, Young and Mollett were engaged in sexual activity and the victim began to gather their things to leave. 

Mollett allegedly asked Fredrick, "You have my back, right?" Fredrick then grabbed the victim's arms from behind as Mollett began beating them.

"[The victim] had very obvious extremely swollen eyes that were deep purple and bleeding. [The victim's] face overall seemed to be swollen," officers said. "Officers observed several smears and drops of blood on the walls, door and floor of the residence as well as several clumps of hair."

The victim says they lost consciousness and when they regained consciousness, their pants and underwear were off, and Young was attempting to rape them.

"[The victim] stated she was pretending to be dead at one point and she could here Mollett saying she was going to kill her and her kids and bury or dump them in the woods or river," court documents state. "[The victim] stated that Mollett would continue to hit her even when she acted like she was dead."

Young and Mollett were arrested on Sept. 25. On Sept. 26, a medical professional told police the victim, "had horizontal marks on her neck (front and back), chest and shoulders ... and also had petechiae in their eyes and ears, all which were clear signs of strangulation."

They also had significant bruising facially, to their scalp and both eyes which required stitches.