WINNIPEG -- A Winnipeg man is denying allegations he confined and sexually assaulted two young women over several hours at his Charleswood home last week, saying no crime occurred.

Oubay Ismail Chebib said no one was sexually assaulted or held against their will and any physical contact between him and the females, aged 16 and 24, was consensual.

Chebib, a former businessman who owned the now-defunct Fabulous Futon Factory, said he was led to believe the 16-year-old was an adult.

Chebib, 44, lashed out against the females and police.

"I'm being screwed over in the worst way possible by these people," Chebib said by telephone from the Winnipeg Remand Centre, where he's been held since his arrest Friday. "This is the worst thing that somebody could ever be accused of."

Chebib's story contradicts the version offered yesterday by Winnipeg police, who described the alleged incident as a terrifying ordeal for the females and cited it as a cautionary tale of meeting strangers over the Internet.

"This (suspect) overpowered them and took advantage of them," said police spokeswoman Const. Jacqueline Chaput.

Chaput said a male suspect met the 24-year-old on a social-networking website four weeks ago.

Chebib said the woman is his girlfriend, they met in person in April, and were discussing moving in together during a visit Thursday night.

Police allege the male accused the females of stealing his property and allegedly prevented them from leaving about 11 p.m., Chaput said.

There was some drug use that night, Chaput said.

Over the next eight hours, the male allegedly threatened the females and committed serious sexual assaults against both of them, Chaput said.

Chebib denied this, claiming the females were free to go and he even asked them to leave at one point.

Eventually, one used the suspect's computer to log on to a social-networking website and notify a friend, providing the suspect's address, Chaput said.

That led to police being notified Friday at 7 a.m.

Officers arrived but the suspect wouldn't let them inside so they forced their way in, Chaput said.

Officers heard the females crying for help, she said.

Chebib, who has prior contact with police, said he asked the officers through the door if they had a warrant and was told they didn't.

The females were taken to hospital, where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries, Chaput said.

Chebib is charged with two counts each of sexual assault and forcible confinement, Chaput said.

chris.kitching@sunmedia.ca