Alleged kidnap victim didn’t indicate trouble, couple says

A British couple renting a cabin in the Tennessee mountains at the same time as an alleged Atlanta kidnapping and rape victim said the woman gave no indication she needed help, according to new information filed in court Tuesday.

Tennessee prosecutors said Tuesday they are reviewing the kidnapping-rape suspect’s request to have the charges dropped, but have taken no action.

Snellville businessman David Jansen, 46, has filed a several-hundred-page motion in Sevier County, Tenn., court detailing a yearlong relationship with the Atlanta woman. Jansen, who said the sex was consensual, requested the charges be dropped or his $800,000 bond reduced to $100,000.

On Tuesday, Jansen filed additional information in court to help his defense, including an interview with the British couple.

Jansen was arrested May 26 after the 24-year-old woman said she was kidnapped from her Atlanta neighborhood, tied up and driven to a Smoky Mountains cabin, where she was raped.

Sevier County Chief Assistant District Attorney Steven R. Hawkins said Tuesday that he received Jansen’s request and is reviewing it.

Jansen is scheduled to appear in court July 17 in Sevier County, Hawkins said.

Ann Short-Bowers, one of Jansen’s attorneys, said lawyers had not received a response from the district attorney and were anticipating attending the July court hearing.

Jansen remains on bond in Tennessee, helping with his case, Short-Bowers said.

Jansen’s attorneys said they hope prosecutors review a polygraph administered to Jansen by a retired FBI agent. The polygraph indicated Jansen was telling the truth when he told investigators the sex was consensual and the kidnapping was suggested by the woman as part of her bondage fantasies.

Information filed in court Tuesday by Jansen’s attorneys include an interview with John Wilkinson, of Stalybridge, England. Wilkinson said he met Jansen at the rental office for Stony Brook Chalets in Gatlinburg on May 26. Wilkinson and his wife were renting a cabin at the same time Jansen was, he told a private investigator.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained a recording of the interview on Tuesday.

Wilkinson said he saw the woman sitting in a blue car outside the rental agency.

“We walked right past the front of the car and at no time did that person in the car make any attempt to gain our attention or any sign other than that was just a normal situation,” Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson said he and his wife stood about six feet from the car for several minutes, talking about where to go grocery shopping.

“She actually slipped down in her seat, I thought, as if not wanting to be recognized,” he said about the alleged victim. “My wife didn’t see that, but I thought it was quite strange and that the person didn’t want to like turn around and nod to us. Because everywhere we’ve been in the USA everyone’s been that friendly and wanted to have a wee chat with us.”

The woman’s mother, Karin Tye-Carter, has also told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that her daughter is a “pathological liar” and she doubts the 24-year-old was raped.

The woman, a dancer at Tattletale’s in Atlanta, has not returned multiple phone calls and e-mails.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution does not identify alleged sexual assault victims. Tye-Carter and other family members do not share the alleged rape victim’s last name.