Sandy police has confirmed that it had arrested 33-year-old Troy Critchfield on suspicion of holding a woman and her 17-month-old son captive at a residence for nearly five days.

As per documents filed with the Salt Lake County jail, the woman, whose identity hasn’t been released, posted a message on social-networking site Facebook pleading for help. In the message, she said that the feared that she would be ‘dead by the morning’.

Her friends on the site read the message and informed the police. When police officers arrived at the home, they discovered that Critchfield had held her and her son for around five days.

The woman informed that Critchfield choked her when she tried to leave the home, and broke her cellphone.

She also said Critchfield had beaten and sodomized her and had thrown her son. He also he had not been feeding the dog for the last five days.

Arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, sodomy, child abuse along with animal cruelty, Critchfield has been held in the Salt Lake County jail without bail.

In 2010, Critchfield was convicted of a felony-level assault against the woman. In February this year, he was sent behind the bars for 120 days.