Man allegedly made wife into prostitute

• Tweet

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A Texas man has been charged with using electrical shocks, death threats and sexual abuse to force his wife into prostitution, court records say.

John Steven Hernandez, 56, has been held in the Austin jail since Saturday in lieu of $250,000 bail, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Police in Austin said they began investigating Hernandez in November when his wife told them her husband had forced her to sell her body, keeping all the money himself. She said her husband called her his "401(k) plan."

The woman said Hernandez began abusing her immediately after they married in 2008. She said she was 18 at the time and married him hoping for financial security.

Hernandez allegedly used a medical device to shock her, tied her up, threatened to kill her and, on one occasion, forced her to breathe through a funnel. He advertised her on Craigslist.

The woman said she provided sexual services at least 200 times.

If Hernandez makes bail, he is under court order to stay away from his wife.