Man accused of kidnapping 4-year-old girl, raping mother pleads not guilty
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A 2009 jail photograph shows Thomas Lawton Evans, 37, was charged in the abduction of 4-year-old Heidi Todd and her mother's rape. (Charleston County Detention Center/ Charleston Police Department)
A man charged with raping a woman and kidnapping her 4-year-old daughter in South Carolina has pleaded not guilty.
Thomas Evans appeared in federal court Friday. News outlets report he said little other than answering Magistrate Judge Bristow Marchant's questions as the judge accepted his not guilty plea.
Evans was indicted in federal court this week on charges of kidnapping, child sexual abuse and transporting a child to engage in sexual activity. He faces up to a life sentence if convicted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Evans faces seven charges in state court after prosecutors said he beat and raped the girl's mother in their Charleston home on Feb. 13.
The child was found safely in Alabama a day later, and Evans was arrested shortly after in Mississippi.