Yes, the Mitch Lawrence character was a religious cult leader wannabe who terrorized Vicki Buchanan (Erica Slezak) and her family.
As the soap was winding down toward cancellation, he returned and kidnapped one of her daughters and gave her a nice lengthy full treatment.
I think I saw most of that, too. Clever plot twist -- every villain in the history of the soap opera breaks out of prison at the same time.
I do remember the mom trying to warn someone about the cult leader guy: "Who knows how many former prisoners he's recruited to be his acolytes?"
Sort of reminded me of James Stenbeck on As The World Turns. He was brazen enough that when he hit town, first he would blackmail a bunch of people to do his bidding. Then he would convince a few others they were crazy; he wasn't "real"; etc. Fun for all. Inevitably someone would try to kill him, and then half the town would be suspects. Had he given a few more ladies the treatment, he would have been a superlegend.
