GASTONIA, N.C. - An accused rapist's bond was increased to $500,000 after a prosecutor argued the man posed a flight risk. <br>
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A judge increased the bond Monday for Aaron John Leblanc, 19, charged with first-degree rape in an attack March 18 on a 24-year-old neighbor. <br>
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Leblanc was re-arrested over the weekend in Georgia after court officials here realized the insurance company that underwrote his initial bond of $100,000 had been prohibited from doing business in Gaston County. <br>
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After a hearing Monday, District Judge John Greenlee increased the bond to $500,000, citing Leblanc's lack of family ties to the area and the serious nature of the charge. <br>
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Public defender Ralph Rutledge said the trouble with the insurance company was not Leblanc's fault and that his client had cooperated with authorities. <br>
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Assistant District Attorney Mikko Red Arrow said the woman was on the phone with a friend about 7 a.m. when a man she recognized as a neighbor knocked on her door. The man asked to use her bathroom, saying his plumbing was broken, court documents say. <br>
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He stayed in the bathroom while the resident continued her phone conversation. <br>
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As he left, the man ran toward the woman and attacked her, court documents say. He tied her hands and raped her at knifepoint, Red Arrow said. <br>
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Her friend remained on the telephone and overheard the assault, the prosecutor said. <br>
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The victim was able to escape and call police. <br>
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Leblanc moved to Gastonia about three weeks ago and was staying with his brother in the apartment complex where the woman lived. <br>
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On Feb. 21, a jury acquitted Leblanc of rape charges in three cases involving teen-age girls in Augusta, Ga. Six months earlier, Leblanc pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain that would have given him 20 years in prison. A judge rejected the plea, calling the sentence too lenient. <br>
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A magistrate initially set Leblanc's bond at $100,000 after his arrest in Gaston County. He posted bond two days later and returned to Georgia. <br>
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Leblanc was re-arrested Saturday in Georgia, where he was staying with his grandmother. A magistrate increased his bond to $250,000.
