One of the men accused of holding three women captive in a suburban Cleveland home has been charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape.

The three women held captive for about a decade at a run-down US house were apparently bound with ropes and chains, police said today, while charges were expected by the end of the day against the three brothers under arrest.

One of the suspects in the case of three women who were rescued this week, 10 years after they went missing, had been active in neighbourhood searches and vigils for the women, neighbours say.