Man charged with sexually torturing five women

A Missouri man has been charged with raping and torturing five women in a St Louis-area apartment over several years, law enforcement officials said.

Adam Michael Capriglione, 29, of south St. Louis County, has been charged with 19 felony counts and is jailed with bond set at $500,000, said Edward Magee, a spokesman for the St. Louis County prosecutor's office.

One woman was allegedly choked to the point of unconsciousness, burned with heated scissors, beaten with a rubber mallet and burned inside her vagina with the heated handle of a can opener, according to charging documents.

The events took place between 2007 and January 2014, and included women who had been in romantic relationships with Capriglione, according to court documents.

The charges include forcible felony sodomy, first degree "wantonly vile" sodomy or attempted sodomy, forcible felony rape, and domestic assault. Capriglione is also charged with sexual exploitation of a minor for allegedly creating child pornography by filming sexual intercourse and other sexual acts with a minor.