Cops: Gwinnett man choked, raped woman, forced child to watch

Correction (8:33 p.m.): The child in the case is the victim's "juvenile family member," but is not her daughter, according to Lilburn police.

Updated story: A Gwinnett County man has been charged with choking and raping a woman while forcing a child to watch the attack, warrants say.

Daniel Lee Bales, of Lilburn, has been charged with rape, aggravated sodomy, battery, burglary, false imprisonment and cruelty to children in the third degree. The 22-year-old is being held in the Gwinnett County Detention Center without bond.

Bales entered the victim’s home between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 26, according to warrants taken out by Lilburn police. That is when Bales allegedly raped the victim and forced her to perform oral sex in front of the victim’s juvenile family member. The warrant says Bales “intentionally allowed” the child to witness the attack.

The warrants do not specify the child’s age and the police did not further specify the child’s relationship to the victim. The victim told officers that she and Bales had a “prior relationship,” according to a release from the Lilburn Police Department. A police report did not provide additional details about the assault.

Court records show that Bales was also charged with criminal trespass, misdemeanor simple battery and making harassing phone calls in June 2016. He had two pre-trial diversion hearings on these charges in March and April of this year.

A preliminary hearing date for the rape, aggravated sodomy, battery, burglary, false imprisonment and cruelty to children charges was not immediately available.