Austin News
WATCH: Online posts lead to violent crimes
11:38 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 3, 2009
A man accused of luring a woman to a Southeast Austin hotel and sexually assaulting her is in jail tonight. It's the third time in two weeks that Craigslist has been tied to violent crime.
Last Wednesday police say a woman came to the Austin Airport Marriott South to meet someone for a sexual encounter.
"The victim in this case had a posting on Craiglist where she was posting for sensual rubdowns,” APD Lt. Allen McClure said.
McClure says Jason Wayne Sutton responded to the ad and was in a hotel room waiting.
"When she arrived in the room the suspect displayed a badge, told her he was a police officer and she was arrested. She did say that she was convinced that he was a police officer,” McClure said.
McClure says Sutton then sexually assaulted the woman twice. He was arrested Tuesday in Burnet County. He is not an APD officer.
On May 21, the body of prostitute Amy Elizabeth Dickey was found behind a Randall’s near MoPac and William Cannon. Police say she was killed by Nathaniel Briscoe who responded to her ad on Craigslist.
Days before that, Hillary Holmes and Thomas Villegas were arrested for trying to rob a man at knifepoint. Holmes told police she met the man on Craigslist and knew he had 250 dollars on him because that was the cost of the massage they agreed on.
And there are more. On Austin Craigslist we found page after page of elicit ads. McClure says it's a risky past time.
"We are aware that suspects do gain access to victims by using sites similar to Craigslist and other sites. We always encourage people where they are in situations where people are able to remain anonymous that they exercise reasonable care,” McClure said.
Police say they are now looking into Sutton's internet activity to make sure there aren't any more victims. He could also face charges for impersonating an officer.
Most Viewed Stories
Below is a list of the most popular stories read by our subscribers this week.
Lawsuit targets anonymous online comments
Medical examiner leaves remains at Dallas crash scene
Temple guilty of killing pregnant wife
Murphy woman hit by car in Plano dies
Dallas-Fort Worth heat wave of 1980 still seared into memories




>