Rory Victor Belmont, a 44-year-old resident of Coventry Lane in Flagler Beach, was booked at the Flagler County jail on no bond Monday on accusations that he beat, raped and strangled his girlfriend of eight years over the course of an ordeal that lasted half a day.
The State Attorney’s Office has filed a motion to deny Belmont bond until the case is resolved.
According to the motion and Belmont’s arrest report, Belmont had been drinking starting the afternoon of June 29. She fell asleep on the couch during the night, next to her aging and sickly dog. She woke up to Belmont putting his thumb in her mouth. She bit his thumb to get him to remove it. He allegedly punched her in the mouth and strangled her to the point where she could not breathe. He then forced her to have sex with him. She told a Flagler Beach police detective that he threatened her with more violence if she did not “do stuff with him.”
She “complied with his demands solely out of fear of suffering further physical abuse or death,” the investigative report states. “Furthermore, Belmont threatened to strangle [the woman] with a brown belt. He wrapped the belt around his knuckles, displaying it in a threatening manner to indicate he would choke her with it, though he did not ultimately place it around her neck.”
After that she fell asleep in her bed across the hallway, only to be woken up at 4:30 a.m. again to Belmont punching her and demanding sex, forcing vaginal and oral sex. On both occasions–on the couch and in the bedroom–the violence of Belmont’s assault was such that the victim lost control of her bladder, she told the detective.
During the timeframe of the alleged assaults, Belmont had possession of the woman’s cell phone, preventing her from calling for help, and “maintained strict physical control over her movements inside the residence,” the report states. “If she required the use of the restroom, Belmont followed her closely to ensure she did not attempt to escape. Furthermore, [the woman] stated that she was strangled 3 additional times by Belmont in this time period. Each time she lost consciousness for an unknown period.”
Belmont then left the house on an electric scooter, and left the cell phone behind. He told the woman he was going to call law enforcement on himself because he was “most likely going to prison for this,” or that he “may just kill himself,” according to the investigative report. The woman immediately called 911.
An officer arrived at the scene at around 12:30 p.m. on June 30 to find the woman “visibly shaken,” on edge and fearful of her surroundings. She had dark red bruising on the left side of her face and around her cheekbone, “as well as an obvious black eye on her left eye,” the report states.
Police recovered the clothes she was wearing at the time of the alleged assaults. A spot of urination was visible on the left side of her bed and a dark spot was visible on the couch. She was admitted at AdventHealth Palm Coast. Police secured a search warrant and called on the sheriff’s Crime Scene Investigations unit to assist.
Police established a controlled call between Belmont and the woman. Belmont would not speak by phone but was willing to communicate by text. He was at Grace Lutheran Church in Ormond Beach, he told her, charging his cell phone from an outlet outside the building. He allegedly “made several admissions regarding his state of mind and actions,” attributing his actions to his drinking. When the woman made an explicit reference to him “raping and beating and strangling” her, Belmont did not deny the allegations, responding: “I don’t know what happened. My mind was just gone. I guess I’m psychotic. Or theres so.ething (something) fucked up inside me.”
“Raping and beating and strangling is psychotic baby. I’m seriously worried how bad you’ve hurt my face,” she texted.
Belmont texted: “I think I told you I wouldn’t come back. I wish I could. Why do you still care about me… I really just want to die. I’m sorry. I really don’t know What happened.” Police had directed the woman to continue engaging Belmont. She offered to pick him up as long as he promised not to force her to have sex with him again. “Will you help me never to drink again?” he asked her. “I promise I’ll never hurt you if my mind is with me.”
Belmont describes himself on his LinkedIn page as a “Unity 6 Developer, Systems Architecture & Automated Test Suite Programmer focused on creating immersive gaming experiences and clean, optimized code.”
Belmont was arrested by authorities in Volusia County and initially booked at the Volusia County jail in the early hours of July 1 before his transfer to Flagler County Monday.
He faces a first-degree felony count of forcible rape and four third-degree felony counts–domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment, aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony and hindering communications with authorities. Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols hears the state’s motion on Wednesday. Belmont is to be arraigned on Aug. 8.
Barry says
My prayers are with the victim. What a horrible thing to endure. This man should be held without bond until he’s convicted. No plea bargain put him away for a long time with lifetime predator sex registration. Society needs to be protected from deviants like this.