Records:Ghent took ex to NY for privacy

CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - A man was formally charged Thursday with unlawful imprisonment and kidnapping after he says he forced his ex-girlfriend to go to New York in order to talk with her away from her friends, records show.

According to a report written by a Kent County sheriff's investigator, Raquel Mayhanagian alleges Travis Ghent went to her Byron Center home last week, forced her to use marijuana, and then put her in a car and drove her to Cadillac. She then says he forced her to take Darvocet and drove her to New York.

Mayhanagian says she feared for her life and repeatedly asked Ghent to take her home.

The investigator's report says Mayhanagian was able to call her father while Ghent was in the shower at their hotel. She says she was able to leave the room while Ghent was sleeping. She then says she went to LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York and took a flight home on Sunday.

Ghent, 25, later drove himself back home in Jenison, Mich.

He was arrested Tuesday -- the same day Mayhanagian, 25, filed a personal protection order against him.

Investigators say Ghent made statements similar to Mayhanagian's. He said he took her because he wanted to talk to her away from Mayhanagian's friends.

At Ghent's arraignment in 63rd District Court on Thursday, Ghent told Judge Sara Smolenski that he had been charged with domestic violence four years ago in California.

The kidnapping charge against Ghent carries a maximum life sentence. The unlawful imprisonment charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Ghent is scheduled to appear in court again on October 28 for his preliminary exam.

He was charged Wednesday for violating a previous personal protection order filed by his ex-fiancee in 2008. Ghent faces fewer than 100 days in jail, most likely just a stiff fine, for contacting his ex repeatedly by phone.