Four Oaks Men Face Charges In Sex Servitude Case

By Emily Weaver
Daily Record of Dunn

DUNN – A Four Oaks man is sitting in the Harnett County Detention Center under a $250,000 secured bond after he was accused of standing guard over a sexual assault inside a Dunn hotel room in October.

An arrest warrant accuses 36-year-old Richard Lee Lovett of kidnapping a female “for the purpose of holding the victim as a hostage … in involuntary servitude” and, specifically, “sexual servitude.” The victim was allegedly sexually assaulted by 29-year-old Jessie McKenzie Beasley, of Four Oaks, according to warrants.

Lovett is accused of conspiring with Beasley to kidnap the victim and of helping him escape detection, arrest and punishment by remaining outside of a hotel room to watch for law enforcement.

Lovett was arrested May 8 and is charged with first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy and being an accessory after the fact. A grand jury indicted him on the charges April 24.

Beasley was arrested Oct. 18 and was indicted by a Harnett County Grand Jury in December on charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree forced sex offense, committing a crime against nature, sexual battery, interfering with an emergency communication and assaulting a female. He is also charged with committing an assault on the same victim by pointing a gun at her and committing a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. He was booked under a $50,000 secured bond.

Lovett and Beasley were set to appear in court on Monday, but the hearing of their cases was rescheduled for Aug. 18. 

Beasley’s indictment accuses him of holding the victim against her will and “subjecting her to sexual servitude,” engaging in a forced sex offense with the victim and breaking her phone to keep her from calling 911 during the crime.

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This story has been updated to correct the ages of those involved