Oregon sex offender allegedly cut open camping tent and kidnapped two women from hiking trail

An Oregon sex offender was just arrested after he allegedly cut open a camping tent, kidnapped, and threatened to sexually assault two women from a hiking trail on the Fourth of July nearly two years ago, according to authorities.

Gene Arnold McLenithan, 58, was arrested by the FBI last week and charged with kidnapping and attempted abusive sexual contact for allegedly snatching the two victims from their tent at a public hiking trail in Tillamook County on July 4, 2024, according to the US Attorney’s Office of the District of Oregon.

Yellow tent at a bivouac campsite among the cliffs of Smith Rock, Oregon. — Gene Arnold McLenithan, 58, allegedly snatched two women from their tent at a public hiking trail and threatened to sexually assault them on July 4, 2024. Garrett Galván – stock.adobe.com

McLenithan, of Salem, kidnapped the women around midnight from their tent, bound them, covered their eyes, and threatened to sexually assault them, prosecutors alleged.

The creep said he had a bag of “razor-sharp knives” and told them “it’s not worth” their lives after breaking into the tent, Assistant US Attorney Kate Rochat said at his first court appearance on Thursday, according to OregonLive.

Both women were strangers to the sex offender, Rochat said. It’s unclear how the women escaped.

Additional details of the location where the terrifying ordeal unfolded and how McLenithan was nabbed nearly two years later were not released, and his federal criminal complaint has been sealed.

McLenithan was previously arrested in connection with a series of sexual assaults in Tillamook County and cuffed in 1999 for forcing his way into a home in Otis and sexually assaulting a female resident, the outlet reported.

Police tape that reads "POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS" with blurred red and yellow lights in the background. — The creep said he had a bag of “razor-sharp knives” and told the women, “it’s not worth” their lives after threatening to sexually assault them. Christopher Sadowski

He was convicted of two counts of sodomy and burglary in 2000 after pleading guilty to the disturbing incident.

McLenithan was ordered held in custody without bail by US Magistrate Judge Jolie Russo on Thursday pending his trial, the local outlet said.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for kidnapping and a maximum sentence of 10 years for attempted abusive sexual contact.

Investigators believe that there may be additional victims and urged them and anyone with information about other potential crimes involving McLenithan to contact the FBI at (503) 224-4181 or submit a tip online at https://tips.fbi.go