3 charged with kidnapping, torturing prostitute

Three people accused of kidnapping and torturing a woman who police say worked for the trio as a prostitute could face decades in prison if convicted, according to charges announced Wednesday by the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Renice Stevenson Flores-Davis, a 26-year-old Costa Mesa resident, is accused of 10 felonies, including human trafficking, torture, kidnapping and pimping.

The charges could land him in state prison for 56 years to life, according to the district attorney’s office.

Two other suspects — Oscar Gonzalez-Salinas, 33, and Cierra Rose Thompson, 27 — each face nine similar felonies that carry a maximum sentence of 39 years to life in state prison.

Police arrested all three Monday evening. A tip led them to a Costa Mesa motel room where they found Flores-Davis and Thompson with the 26-year-old woman. Gonzalez-Salinas was arrested soon after at another motel.

That the woman was abused and tortured was obvious when officers arrived, police said.

Flores-Davis, Gonzalez-Salinas and Thompson are each being held on $1 million bail and are expected to be arraigned Aug. 22, according to the district attorney’s office.

Also Wednesday, authorities detailed more of the brutality that they allege persisted for at least a week.

The kidnappers would beat the woman, pour water down her throat and nose and burn her with methamphetamine pipes and an iron, according to police and the district attorney’s office.

“You could see the imprint from the iron on both of her shoulders,” said Costa Mesa police Sgt. Ed Everett.

Authorities took the woman to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach and then a women’s shelter.

“We have had [cases like] these before, but not to this extent that someone had the injuries she had,” Everett said.

Police said Flores-Davis started living in local motels after being kicked out of his mother’s Costa Mesa home a few months ago for using drugs.

He would hop from motel to motel with Thompson, a girlfriend from Oregon, and they picked up Gonzalez-Salinas somewhere along the way, police said.

“I think ultimately they met several months ago and became BFFs,” Everett said. “In their travels and drug use, they’ve been staying in various different cities.”

Authorities allege Flores-Davis met the unidentified woman in Costa Mesa during a drug deal in May and persuaded her to work for him as a prostitute.

But on July 22, the district attorney’s office said, Flores-Davis got angry with her and, with the help of Thompson, zip-tied her to a chair, gagged and blindfolded her and left her tied to a bathroom sink in a Westminster motel where she slept on the bathroom floor.

During the next week, authorities said, Gonzalez-Salinas and Thompson helped Flores-Davis supervise the woman and repeatedly torture her, ensuring she wouldn’t escape.

The woman, however, was able to send a Facebook message asking for help, police said. The recipient called the Costa Mesa Police Department about 6 p.m. Monday and directed officers to the Days Inn on Newport Boulevard.

Costa Mesa police said it’s possible there are more victims.