Robert Jeremy Haynes

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A convicted sex offender is jailed in Dobson today for alleged crimes that began with a kidnapping in Winston-Salem and ended with a rape in Mount Airy.

The kidnapping occurred at Walmart on Hanes Mill Road in Winston-Salem, according to the Mount Airy Police Department, which announced the arrest of Robert Jeremy Haynes, 26, late Wednesday. Store video footage is said to have aided the arrest.

After being abducted in Winston-Salem, police say the female victim advised that she was taken to Mount Airy and sexually assaulted as well as robbed of her personal property. Police have not revealed where in the city the alleged rape and robbery is alleged to have occurred.

With those crimes reported in their jurisdiction, Mount Airy police took the lead role in an investigation of the case which began Tuesday morning. It also involved the Winston-Salem Police Department and Surry County Sheriff’s Office.

The investigation led to felony charges of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape and robbery with a dangerous weapon being filed against Haynes, whose exact address is unknown. A sexual-offender registry of the N.C. Department of Justice lists Haynes as a Stokes County resident, but also as being in violation of a requirement to notify authorities of an address change.

He was believed to be in the Mount Airy area Wednesday afternoon, although it is not known if that is due to having a residence or family connections here. A Greensboro television station reported that personnel at the Winston-Salem Walmart, which reportedly is monitored by more than 24 security cameras in its parking lot alone, supplied surveillance footage to Mount Airy police to aid the search for the suspect.

No information has been released regarding the weapon used or the property said to have been taken from the woman.

In the wake of the kidnapping, the Greensboro TV station relayed a warning about the need for shoppers to stay alert to their surroundings when visiting stores in the area and keep vehicle doors locked.

Haynes is a registered sexual offender due to a conviction of taking indecent liberties with a minor in December 2010, for an offense occurring more than a year earlier.