Be Careful
*Editor’s Note: Many people have resorted to other means for meeting a mate, including the internet. I am not saying that it’s any better or worse than meeting someone at the mall, the club, or even in the church…but I am saying that you should approach all internet situations with caution.
DECATUR, Ga. — DeKalb County police have charged an 18-year-old man with raping two women they say he lured off the popular website Craigslist.
Detectives say Allen Jamar McDowell of Decatur convinced two women on separate occasions to meet him at an apartment off Kensington Road. The apartment was vacant, but McDowell allegedly gained access and held the women captive while he sexually assaulted them.
Both cases weren’t initially linked together and, in fact, police didn’t name McDowell as the suspect until recently.
“Our officers have been able to determine there was an incident in March and a second one in April. In both cases those victims did come forward to detectives and notify them of the sexual assaults, but it wasn’t until an anonymous tip came in to Crimestoppers that our detectives were able to link this particular suspect with these two sexual assaults,” said Mekka Parish, Public Information Officer for the Dekalb County Police Department.
McDowell faces a laundry list of charges including kidnapping, rape and reckless conduct for knowingly exposing someone to HIV. What police say they don’t know is how long McDowell may have been soliciting women on the internet and if there are other victims out there who have not yet come forward.
“You never know how many women he may have actually reached out to,” said Parish.
May 9, 2008 at 9:13 am
Another angry man taking his frustrations out on unsuspecting victims. Is like he is making women pay for his irresponsibility..this has got to stop
May 9, 2008 at 11:02 am
yes my friend adina called me and told me about this, i had been working hard with her to get out of porn and stop escorting, she used CL sometimes too and im glad i did, she was embarrassed to get a job, but you have to crawl before you walk i told her and now she’s happy i was so persistent with her.
May 9, 2008 at 1:05 pm
So he not only lured them, possible abducted them, and then assualted them AND he has HIV? Good grief…
May 9, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I have a 16 year and tell im all the time to be easy.
Thanks, so much for posting this information. I will definitely let him
read as soon as he gets home from school.
The youth think it can’t hapen to them!
God Bless
May 9, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Online, people can make themselves out to be anyone they’d like to be just to attract others. So, if this guy made up some wonderful story about how he’s ready to settle down with a nice girl and blah blah blah - I can only imagine how many other women were assaulted by him. I only wish that these two women, and any other individuals that haven’t stepped up as of yet, would have met up with him in a public place. Hell, Wal-Mart is open 24/7 …
On another note -
If someone has to force someone into having sex with them, that’s just sad (and not to mention sick). It just goes to show how desperate the rapist actually is.
And he has HIV, too?
We live in a crazy world. It’s sad how we humans can knowingly hurt one another without a care …
May 9, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Wow……this dude is amazing!! Not only does he rape these indivduals but then he may have infected them with HIV! Man oh man when does it end. Please ladies becareful and think before you do. Whether you meet him at a bar, mall, store, church or online remember you dont know him.
May 11, 2008 at 6:14 pm
When I was reading, my initial thoughts were that he only raped the women…but when I got to the bottom, and read that he was SIMPLY charged with reckless conduct (!!!) for exposing the women to HIV on purpose, I was infuriated. I mean, that’s just not justice.
May 31, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Assume everybody online is a serial killer until proven otherwise. Never meet in a house or an apartment. If you decide to go that route. meet at the mall. Meet in public and take a friend with you.