Man accused of kidnapping, raping young girl at knifepoint

TAMPA — The young girl was sleeping early Friday, when a man entered her family's home using a key and sneaked into her bedroom, police reported.

He held a knife to her neck, told her to be quiet and carried her out to a truck. He drove her a few blocks away and forced her into the back seat. When she started to scream, he punched her in the face and then raped her, they said.

The girl is under 13, but police won't give her exact age.

Her family knew the man police later arrested, but they aren't sure how he got a key, police said.

Aaron Lamar Howard, 21, was charged with sexual battery on a minor, armed kidnapping, and possession of cocaine and marijuana. He was held without bail.

When the attack was over, the man dropped the girl off a few blocks from home and warned her not to tell anyone, police said. He said he had gotten away with the offense once before, an arrest report stated.

The girl ran home, woke her aunt and told her what had happened.

At Howard's home at, 1052 Cardonna St. in Tampa, police found a bag of marijuana and a small amount of cocaine, an arrest report says.

Official records say this was Howard's first arrest in Florida.