Bond set for woman accused of reporting false kidnapping

A Lemon Twp. woman remains behind bars after allegedly making up a story that she was being held against her will and posting a video on social media.

Thelma Williams, 38, of South Verity Parkway, was charged with making false alarms on Wednesday after Butler County Sheriff’s deputies investigated her claims for hours in including using the department’s helicopter to search for an alleged suspect.

Middletown Municipal Court Judge Melynda Cook Howard said William’s bond at $10,000 on Friday during arraignment on the fifth-degree felony charge. She is schedule to be back in court next week for a preliminary hearing.

Williams initially said a masked intruder entered her home at approximately 9 a.m. Wednesday, bound her and cut her clothes off, said Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones.

Williams went on say the suspect used her phone to videotape the event and later posted the videos to her Facebook account, according to deputies.

Prior to leaving her home, Williams said the suspect called a contact on her phone and left the phone by her side.

Williams went so far as to tie herself up and put underwear in her mouth as a gag, Jones said.

After hours of investigation, including putting the sheriff’s department’s helicopter in the air to find the suspect, Jones said detectives “found the story to be a total fabrication.”

“She said she did it for the attention,” Jones said, adding that Williams admitted she had recently broken up with her boyfriend.

Detectives said Williams indicated she wanted attention from her family, and when law enforcement arrived she continued with the ruse.

Jones said the case is one of the most bizarre the department has had in a long time.

“We are asking for her to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.

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