NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Niagara Falls man who was taken into custody following a manhunt in June, pleaded guilty to predatory sexual assault Friday.
According to detectives, 25-year-old Michael Ciskiewic attacked a woman and forcibly took her to his Niagara Falls home where he raped her, chained her ankles with padlocks, taped her wrists, and taped socks into her mouth.
Following a manhunt, Ciskiewic was found by police hiding in an overgrown industrial area near 24th and Allen and taken into custody.
"We were able to get a really bad guy off the street and the victim is going to be ok," said Kelly Rizzo the chief of detectives for Niagara Falls Police Department at a media conference in June.
The woman was reported missing for a short time until she was found in Ciskiewic's basement.
As family and neighbors were looking for the woman and checking home security video for clues, a neighbor said Ciskiewic was outside mowing the lawn up and down the street as if nothing had happened - even as his victim was chained in his basement.
Ciskiewic's defense attorney, Dominic Saraceno, entered a not-guilty plea and waived a felony hearing in June.
Saraceno told reporters in June that his client has a long history of mental health issues going back to when he was young - especially dealing with paranoid schizophrenia.
"This should be a wake up call to our lawmakers that we can't continue to ignore the mental health crisis in our community," said Saraceno.
Ciskiewic is due back in court February 21st for sentencing.
