Last month, prosecutors in Grady County charged a Tuttle man with multiple felony complaints after he was accused of holding at least three young women against their will in the home he shared with his parents. Now, two of those women have testified at a preliminary hearing about their alleged experiences.
Oklahoma City police were investigating Gregory Zavala, 23, for allegations of crimes in Oklahoma County when they became aware of the alleged kidnappings and rapes of the three women between 2011 and 2013. At least two of the accusers were teens at the time of their alleged captivity. OKC police and the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office tipped off Grady County authorities about the allegations. After investigators questioned witnesses in the case, U.S. Marshals arrested Zavala near his home.
He was taken to the Grady County jail, where he is held on $2 million bond. In Grady County, he is charged with eight counts of child sexual abuse, and one count of possession of child pornography.
He is also charged in Lincoln County with one count of harboring a runaway and in Oklahoma County with DUI, reckless driving, and domestic assault and battery.
The women who accuse Zavala of kidnapping, rape, and assault say that they were held against their will and threatened with violence if they ever left the home. Two say they were lured to his home and then not allowed to leave. A third says she was homeless and dating Zavala, and when she went to live with him, he took her cell phone and had her car towed.
The two women who testified at his preliminary hearing said that they were ultimately able to escape by using a cell phone. One said Zavala's mother left her cell phone behind when she left the home, and the girl used it to call a family member to come get her. Another says that she saved change from the man's pockets when she did his laundry and used it to buy a prepaid cell phone.
Zavala's defense attorney questioned the women about their captivity and their alleged inability to escape. One, who said Zavala held her for about a year, was allowed to leave the home to work. Another said that Zavala would not allow her to leave the house without his permission from January through August of 2012, but then admitted that she escaped once in "June or July." She says that after she left that time, Zavala found her and "said that [she] should go back with him."
The women say that their fear of Zavala kept them from leaving and kept them from filing a protective order or calling police. One said Zavala told her the only way she was leaving was "in a body bag," and another says that Zavala told her he shot a girl who filed a protective order against him.
Currently, Zavala is the subject of at least four protective orders, barring him from contact with two of the women in the alleged captivity case, the teen runaway he is accused of harboring, and another girl in Oklahoma County.
