Police claim that social media was used by a defendant in order to make initial contact with three of his alleged victims. Charged with sexual assault, the Texas man has yet to post his $665,000 bond and is currently still in police custody. He is also facing a single count of robbery in addition to the assault allegations.
The social media website used by the defendant was not named by police, although popular sites used by many people in Texas include Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The 21-year-old man claims that he did indeed befriend three different women between January 2016 and his arrest on June 7, 2016. However, he denies engaging in any type of forced sexual behavior with any of the individuals he subsequently met in real life.
The investigation began when one of the three women involved in the case filed a report with area police officers. According to her claim, the defendant drove to pick her up sometime after making contact online. Afterwards, he allegedly drove her to an otherwise unoccupied area and engaged in unwanted sexual behavior. He is also accused of robbing at least one woman other than the three women identified over the course of the investigation.
Texas state law does not treat sexual assault lightly, and defendants accused of such often face harsh consequences if convicted. While criminal consequences such as jail time and fines have a significant impact, many defendants find that the most profound impact is the lifelong criminal history that follows them to job interviews and to various educational opportunities. Because of this, there is usually no such thing as “too soon” when it comes to creating a secure defense foundation in order to achieve the most favorable outcome possible.
Source: beaumontenterprise.com, “North Texas man charged with raping 3 women he met online”, July 12, 2016
