INDIANAPOLIS — WARNING: This story contains graphic content that might be difficult for some to read.
Police arrested a man Saturday after they say he raped a woman and her 12-year-old daughter.
IMPD said officers were dispatched to Indy's west side on a rape that just happened around 12:45 p.m. on Saturday.
Police arrived on scene and spoke with the woman, who said she and her 12-year-old daughter were just raped at gunpoint inside their home.
According to a police report, the woman said she heard a knock at the front door and opened it when she saw a man wearing an American flag mask pointing a handgun at her. The 21-year-old man, identified as Teshon Gardner, told her to let him inside so she did. Court documents say he ended up raping her on the couch and floor.
Court documents say Gardner started looking at the family pictures on the wall and asked if anyone else was in the home. He stopped raping the woman and started walking down the hall to where her children were sleeping.
Gardner allegedly had the woman get her 12-year-old daughter out of the room and they went back to the living room where police say he proceeded to rape both of them.
The suspect stayed at the home for roughly an hour from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Documents say the victims gave police a description of Gardner, including the fact that he had a tattoo with the letter "M" and unknown writing underneath on the left side of his torso. The victims also said the man recorded the rape with his cellphone.
In an interview with police, documents say Gardner said he spent most of the day driving around by himself. He denied having sexual contact with anyone and denied sexually assaulting anyone. When asked if he had any tattoos on his body, he said he had one on his stomach.
Officers asked to look at the tattoo and that's when they spotted the letter "M" with the word "Motown" written under it. Gardner couldn't explain how the victims would have known about this tattoo.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office formally charged Gardner with 19 counts, including two counts of criminal confinement and several counts each of rape and child molestation.
