When a 27-year-old woman was found running naked down Taylor Road Sept. 19, 2010 she told authorities she had escaped from her ex-boyfriend who had held her hostage and assaulted her. That man pleaded guilty to charges stemming from that incident Tuesday.

Raymond Espinoza Medina, 26, was accused of hitting the victim in the face with his fist, pulling her hair, tying her hands and feet and striking her in the head with a gun several times during the incident.

The victim, the mother of his two children, told authorities that when Medina - who she had a temporary protection order against - approached her the day before, she felt that she had no choice but to go with him.

Initially, the victim said that Medina assaulted her throughout the night, put a gun to her head at one point and refused to let her leave, telling her "she would not get out of there alive."
She also alleged that he raped her, an allegation she later recanted.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Anne Kurtz said she did not believe they could prove the rape charge without the victim's assistance because of insufficient evidence.

At one point Medina fell asleep, and the victim was able to run from the home to a neighbor's house in search of help.

Medina reportedly barricaded himself in the home when deputies came, and the Covington/Newton County SWAT Team was called out. After several hours, Medina gave himself up without incident.

Of the 17 charges against him, Medina agreed to plead guilty to nine: two counts of aggravated assault, aggravated stalking, false imprisonment, four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The charges amount to 47 years in jail, 20 years on probation and approximately $5,000 in fines (as well as fees and surcharges). The maximum amount of time he could have received for the charges was 85 years. The actual amount of time Medina is scheduled to spend incarcerated is nine years before being released.

When Medina is released, he will be monitored on intensive probation, be required to complete domestic violence intervention class, get his GED, be evaluated for possible treatment in drugs and alcohol (and submit to random drug screens) and be banished from Newton and Walton counties.

Another condition was that he had no contact with the victim. However, that was changed to no non-violent contact because the victim and Medina intend to move in together when he gets out of jail and live as a family with their children.