Daytona Beach, FL – A sex offender tied to the rape and torture of a homeless pregnant woman in Daytona Beach will be in court on Friday.
John Lytus will appear before Volusia County Judge Leah Case in a hearing scheduled for 1 PM at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach.
The hearing is expected to take most of the afternoon because there are 5 motions being considered by the judge.
Lytus was arrested last October for kidnapping the victim – 6 months pregnant at the time – while giving her a ride from a 7-Eleven on South Ridgewood Avenue on September 18, 2015.
According to the Daytona Beach Police Department arrest report, Lytus left the woman naked and hogtied for over 12 hours in a recreational vehicle parked near Baldwin Lane as she suffered from drug withdrawals. A photo of that actual RV (courtesy DBPD) is posted above this article.
Lytus also allegedly stabbed her breasts with a knife, punched her in the face and chest and forced her to perform a sex act before letting her go the following day at the same 7-Eleven where he picked her up.
The 52-year-old is also a person of interest in the suspicious death of a 30-year-old woman found in a swale near International Speedway Boulevard in DeLand 5 days later.
An autopsy revealed no official cause of death for Laura Lynn Nagengast, but Volusia County Sheriff’s Office investigators are still treating her death as suspicious.
VCSO hasn’t released any other details on the Nagengast case at this time, including the 911 call.
Authorities believe the 2 cases are linked because of a blue Toyota pickup that the victim in the September 18th kidnapping says Lytus was driving when he picked her up. VCSO believe Nagengast entered a similar kind of vehicle 3 days before she was found dead.
Lytus is held without bond at Volusia County Jail on charges of sexual battery, kidnapping and failing to register as a sex offender.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show Lytus was convicted of first-degree rape in the state of New York in 1986. He was also found guilty in 2009 of failing to register as a sex offender in Orange County (Florida).
Lytus is also wanted in Nicaragua for raping a woman at knifepoint, according to INTERPOL.
A VCSO report noted that INTERPOL considers Lytus to be “armed and dangerous” due to “violent tendencies” as well as a known drug abuser who could be suicidal or attempt to run from law enforcement.
John Lytus (mugshot courtesy VCJ)
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