Bail Refused to Man Who Met Victim Online Dating

by Rania Spooner

A Chinese national charged with raping a woman he met on a dating website had only days earlier been interviewed by police over allegations he'd raped a different online date.

Runbin Hu, 29, was refused bail by Victoria's chief magistrate, Peter Lauritsen, on Wednesday after prosecutors argued he posed too great a risk to the community.

Police allege Mr Hu detained and raped two young woman, just days apart, after meeting them separately on Chinese dating websites.  

He has been charged with one count of rape against a woman who claims he attacked her at his Notting Hill apartment on Monday, but the Melbourne Magistrates Court heard that the possibility of further charges was possible in relation to the other woman.

Defence lawyer Chong Yang, said consent would be a major issue  and that while his client agreed about the intercourse,  he maintained that it had been consensual.

Mr Hu has lived in Australia for seven years, first as a student and then working as a chef in aged care facility in Sunbury, without ever running into trouble with the law, his lawyer told the court.

Detective Acting Sergeant Rosemary Eden, of the Box Hill sexual offences and child abuse investigation team, said Mr Hu met one of the women online on last Saturday, March 7, and the pair agreed to go on a date on Monday night.  

Mr Hu picked her up from her house and took her to a bar in Clayton where she had one beer, she said.  But after refusing to take her home, he drove to his apartment, prompting her to send four text messages to a friend expressing concern about what was going to happen.

The woman told police Mr Hu had then carried her into his bedroom where he pinned her arms down and forced himself on her, telling her that she had to be quiet or he "would be rude," Acting Sergeant Eden said. 

He let her leave afterwards and her friends took her to the police station where she made a statement and underwent forensic testing, she said.

Following his arrest on Tuesday, Mr Hu admitted to having intercourse with the woman, "while she was silent and shaking," but told police it was consensual, the court heard.

Eight days earlier he'd been interviewed in relation to the rape allegations made by the other woman, a South Australian-based Chinese woman who had travelled to Melbourne after meeting him online. 

This woman had previously been undecided about pursuing the matter but agreed on Tuesday to make a statement, Acting Sergeant Eden said.

Mr Hu's lawyer said in this case, the woman had been in a relationship with Mr Hu for about two months.

She previously told police Mr Hu sexually assaulted her shortly after picking her up from the airport. She wanted to leave, but he held onto her passport for two days and committed further assaults, the woman alleged.

Mr Hu, who speaks very limited English, shook his head as his lawyer explained that bail had been refused.

He was remanded in custody to face court again on June 5.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE FOUND HERE

ROMANCE SCAMMER IN JAIL

by Pat Coughtrey

The man behind a sophisticated and lucrative online dating scam, who used love as a means to dupe women, has been sent to jail for six years and four months.

Hery Agunu, 25, was sentenced on October 25 after he had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by misrepresentation after a bank in America stopped a payment which it believed to be fraudulent and alerted the US authorities.

They handed the case over to the Met Police’s Operation Podium, which led the investigation that tracked Agunu down.

The court had heard that Agunu, from Forest Gate, used Facebook, dating websites and other social media to portray himself as a white, widowed American businessman in search of love and companionship. He built a number of aliases, using details of real people.

He spent anything from two weeks to months on grooming his victims into forming a relationship with him and even falling in love. Then he would persuade the women that he was struggling financially and needed to borrow money until he got paid.

In one scam, Agunu told the victim he had won a multi-million pound contract to deliver “platform and transport services” for the Met Police during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. He went to great lengths in researching and writing a fake lucrative contract showing himself as the winner of the work.

Bankrupt

Podium have identified 17 victims from America, Canada and Trinidad and Tobago, aged from their mid-fifties to late seventies. One victim, a 69-year-old woman from the US, sent Agunu £144,000 as a result of his scam. Another victim lost so much money to him that she has had to declare herself bankrupt.

Agunu worked with 39-year-old Evelina Sisin from Edmonton, whose bank account was used to launder some of the money. She pleaded guilty in June to money laundering and was sentenced to 18 months in jail on October 25.

After the case, Det Supt Nick Downing, of Operation Podium, said: “Agunu was a sophisticated and charismatic operator who deliberately wormed his way into way into women’s affections, promising love and marriage, simply to rip them off. He has made thousands of pounds, and left a number of women suffering more than just financial loss.

“My advice to anyone is simple – no matter what the circumstances, never give money to anyone you meet online and cannot prove for yourself they are who they say, even if they use the name of a well-known organisation, such as ours, or produce professional-looking documents in an attempt to add credence to their claims. Such things are all too easy to fake.”

Agunu, of Odessa Road, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud at Isleworth Crown Court on October 22.

The judge ordered that other offences of money laundering lie on file.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE FOUND HERE

Romance Scam Victim Duped into Being a Drug Mule

A one-time Somerset Ward city council candidate is at his wit’s end over his mother’s year-long incarceration on drug charges in Peru. Don Fex says his mother, Norma, 59, was the victim of a romance scam. A U.K. man lured her to the South American country and duped her into being a drug mule, he says.

Now Fex says his mother is struggling with harsh jail conditions and he feels Canadian consular officials aren’t doing enough to get her back home. It was supposed to be a romantic getaway, but Norma’s boyfriend didn’t show up in Peru. The scammer claimed he couldn’t get a flight out and suggested they change plans so she could come right away to the U.K. says Fex, relating what his mother told him.

Her U.K. boyfriend told her he’d just have a business associate drop off some documents for her to take to him. He didn’t mention the 2.2 kilograms of cocaine sewn into the suitcase that held the documents.

“She’s five feet tall. She wears kitten sweaters,” Fex said of his mother. She’s never been in trouble with the law he said, adding she worked as a security guard in Windsor, Ont.

Peruvian lawyers said fighting the charges might prolong her incarceration. Norma co-operated and pleaded guilty, hoping to be extradited quickly after sentencing, said Fex. She was sentenced three months ago to more than seven years. Fex says his mother had little money when she arrived in Lima. She didn’t speak Spanish and found herself in a dingy hotel in a slum. Fex says his mother jumped at the chance to get out. He says she looked in the suitcase and found Spanish documents, but never thought of tearing open the suitcase lining. She was arrested at the airport.

His mother must pay for everything she needs in jail, even drinking water. He’s been sending money every month to cover her costs, but she’s recently been transferred to a prison two hours outside Lima. He says Canadian consular officials have told him they will now only be able to visit her once every three months.

Department of Foreign Affairs officials have told him extradition can’t begin until all of Norma’s fines are paid, but he doesn’t think the Canadian consulate has followed up on a request for a tally. A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said in an email consular services are being provided to a Canadian citizen in Peru and consular officials remain in close contact with local authorities, “and with the citizen’s family.”

Fex wants that contact to start yielding results more quickly. “It’s in their power now to speed things along,” he said.

Fex had no idea his mother was in Peru until he got an emergency call from his uncle.

“The shock has worn off and now the anger has set in,” he said.

original article found here

130 Difference Facebook Profiles!

(U.S.A.) ...this is one situation that takes the cake in “crazy ex” stories. Reported today is the prosecution of 22 year old Los Angeles resident, Jesus Felix, who created — wait for it — 130 different Facebook pages in order to harass his 16 year old ex-girlfriend. Wow.

On facing two counts of California’s new Internet impersonation law — in effect January 1st – and one count of making harassing telephone calls, Felix has pleaded “No contest”. In fact, he has only narrowly dodged a one-year jail time sentence by agreeing to take anger management and sex therapy classes, two things that are clearly in his best interest. He is also now saddled with a five year probation, along with 30 days of road crew service.

Prosecutors say in a news release that Felix created Facebook pages and Craigslist listings using photos of his ex-girlfriend. The girl’s mother discovered online profiles with her daughter’s contact information as well as sexually explicit photos.

original article found here

Facebook Extortionist Sentenced

(U.S.A.) A Natalbany man will spend the next 10 years in prison after using Facebook to stalk and extort sex from women, and even a 14-year-old girl.

Prosecutors say Adam Kolb, 26, would contact women through Facebook, and eventually have them send him racy pictures of themselves. When they tried to cut off communication with Kolb, he threatened to release the pictures on the internet or send them to their families.

Other victims said that Kolb had tried to contact them multiple times with sexual advances, even thought they had asked him not to.

The 14-year-old girl claimed that Kolb knew how old she was at the time of their relationship.

Investigators said that Kolb also used his job as a pizza delivery man to meet women. They said that if he made a delivery to someone he was interested in, he would take a picture of their name and phone number and use it to start harassing them.

Detective Ed Bergeron said in Fall 2011 that investigators had identified over 50 victims.
Kolb was sentenced by Judge Robert Morrison to serve 10 years for each count of extortion (7 counts) and felony carnal knowledge (2 counts). In addition, he was sentenced two years for each count of cyber stalking (9 counts), and six months for defamation by hatred. He will serve the sentences concurrently.

When released, Kolb will have to register as a sex offender.

original article found here

Ex Jailed for Posting Amateur Porn Tape Online

By James Titcomb

A jilted boyfriend was jailed today for taking revenge on his ex-lover - by putting their home-made sex videos onto the internet.

Lee Ball, 39, from Bridgend, South Wales, filmed his girlfriend in a variety of sex positions for their own collection during their short romance. But when they broke up, Ball posted their sex games onto a website, starting a nine-month campaign of harassment.

He cruelly sent emails with links of the videos to her friends saying: 'Look at this website,' as well as posting abusive messages on Facebook and scrawling offensive phrases on the back door of her house.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how the woman, 35, suffered serious psychological harm over nine months of abuse. Prosecutor Gareth James said: 'In a nine-month-long campaign she was verbally abused, belittled, humiliated and terrified by Ball.

'When they were together she agreed to recording their sex life. But after they split up those images were posted on the internet. He sent messages to her friends with links to the material and left disgusting and demeaning messages on Facebook criticising her appearance. Ball also contacted cosmetic surgeons in her name, ordered Sky TV for her, sent her an abusive Valentine’s Day card and wrote offensive sex messages on the back door of her house.'

The court heard Ball was ashamed and accepted what he had done had revealed some disturbing aspects to his own personality.

Adam Sharpe, defending, said: 'His messages were abusive and obscene and there were threats, although he had no intention of carrying them out. He had failed to accept the break down of the relationship and became preoccupied by her to an unhealthy degree.'

Forklift truck driver Ball was jailed for two years after admitting harassment. The court heard it was the 100th offence on his record. Judge John Curran told Ball: 'This was a spiteful and calculated campaign which caused serious psychological harm in a particularly cruel way.

'She was terrified you may come and injure her and took refuge with her parents.

'This may not be absolutely the worst case of its kind but it is a bad one.'

original article found here

Stalker Sending Men to My House for Sex ...was my Ex!

By NIKKI WATKINS


(U.K.) Amy Lees answered a knock at her front door and a man burst in, grabbed her by the throat and threatened to rape her. The sicko fantasist had been led to believe she was keen to take part in a sordid sex game. She fought him off — but he was just one of hundreds of strangers who kept turning up on her doorstep for months demanding that she had sex with them.

Traumatised Amy was the victim of a vicious internet stalker who had plastered her name, photos and home address on websites offering her up for weird role-play fantasies. And, shockingly, the stalker was her ex-boyfriend Khalid Hussain — who she had turned to for help when she felt besieged, scared and vulnerable in her home.

Amy has bravely waived her anonymity to tell her horrifying story to The Sun. She said: "For nine months I was stalked. It was the worst time of my life. I was trapped and frightened. I wouldn't wish that terror on my worst enemy. It was a truly horrifying experience."

Amy, a 31-year-old barmaid, first met care worker Hussain, 30, via a dating website in October 2009.

She said: "I had just come out of a relationship and wanted to have fun so I joined the site. I got chatting to Khalid. He seemed very kind and sweet. After a couple of weeks chatting on MSN and Facebook I invited him round for dinner. We chatted for hours and by the end of the evening we were a couple. He was very attentive and sent me bouquets of flowers every week."

But they began having arguments and split up quite regularly. Three months after their meeting, Amy ended the relationship. She said: "While we were apart I went on Facebook and noticed a friend request from a man called Simon. Although I didn't know him, I replied because I was flattered to get male attention. We started emailing and texting. He wanted a sexy picture so, stupidly, I sent him a picture of myself in underwear. As soon as I hit send, I regretted it."

The next day Simon put the picture on Amy's Facebook wall under the caption: "Here's my new girlfriend I'm going to f*** the a*** off her." Her voice shaking, Amy said: "I was shocked, took the photo down and texted Simon telling him to leave me alone. He texted back saying, 'I'm going to have my fun, you f***ing bitch, wait and see.' Seeking emotional support, I got back with Khalid and he was really supportive. I felt safer knowing he was there."

Days later Amy started getting texts from Simon calling her disgusting names. Amy said: "Things were terrible and I felt as if I needed somebody to be there for me — but Khalid was becoming very controlling. I knew I had to end things with him for good. "We parted as friends and stayed in touch. Every time I was contacted by Simon I'd tell Khalid, desperate for support."

Amy called the police about the harassment and they shut down her Facebook account while they investigated. But in February 2010 things took a menacing turn when men — often up to 20 a day — started arriving at her house wanting to have sex with her. Amy said: "When the first person came to the door asking me for sex I was so gobsmacked I just closed it in his face. But the second and third time it happened I knew it was probably down to Simon. I was so confused and vulnerable. I became petrified and would always check from my upstairs window who was at the door before I opened it. I kept a frying pan at hand, so I felt protected, and friends would stay over so I felt safer. The police were still involved but there seemed to be little they could do. I became a quivering wreck as the men knocked at the door and shouted obscenities through my letterbox. I hardly slept and every day became a battle. I became too weak and frightened to leave the house.

"About four months after the men started arriving, there was a knock on the door. I opened it a crack and saw a respectable-looking man in his forties. He grabbed me by the throat, said he was going to rape me and pushed me inside the house. I tried to fight him off and my friend, who was in my house at the time, ran to help me. The man realised his mistake and stepped away, whispering, 'I'm sorry. I thought I was talking to you on the internet. I thought this is what you wanted'.

"He ran out of the house and I managed to get his registration number and call the police. I put panic alarms supplied by the police all over the house and added a chain to the door. They also put a sign up on my door explaining that any internet directions to my house were a hoax."

The man was arrested but not charged because he had been talking to someone online who had set up a fake profile. That someone turned out to be Hussain — and he had set up many other profiles in her name. He had used photos from her Facebook account and given out her home address.

He was jailed for two years nine months in September last year after admitting harassment.

There were 53,000 cyber-stalking allegations recorded in 2009 and experts believe the actual number could be ten times this. New laws are set to be introduced to combat the crime.

Amy said: "The shock of knowing my ex-boyfriend was behind all of this left me feeling physically sick. He had written that I was into rape re-enactment along with numerous sordid sexual acts. It made me feel disgusted. He had seemed kind but all along he was evil and dangerous. I'm glad he is in jail and can't do that to anyone else — but if I had been the judge I would have given him life. I still find it very difficult to trust anyone. I sleep in the room with my four Staffordshire bull terriers and don't like going out on my own."

Amy is now making a fresh start, having found a new man. But she warned: "It is so important that cyber stalking is taken seriously because we are all at risk."

If you think you are being stalked, it is vital to act now.

For more information and to get help in the U.K. contact the Suzy Lamplugh Trust at suzylamplugh.org or 020 7091 0014

original article here

Crackdown on Facebook "Burn" Pages

By Pamela Owen

(U.K.) Schoolchildren have been setting up special Facebook 'burn' pages to post vile and abusive messages about their peers.

Police have now said they are cracking down on the phenomenon and have warned pupils to start removing their names and comments - many of them sexual - off the pages.

Officers estimate as many as 700 students are involved in the sites - which are inspired by the cult film Mean Girls - in which students write hurtful and often fabricated gossip in a 'burn book'. So far eight of the pages in the Portsmouth area of Hampshire have been shut down after police and schools contacted Facebook.

However many, including Portsmouth Burn which has 712 friends, are still being used.

Police have warned pupils who continue to post messages on the pages that they could face investigation and prosecution.

At Park Community School in Leigh Park, near Havant, Hampshire, 50 students were members of a 'Hampshire burn' page.

Three students - a former male pupil, a year 11 boy and a year 10 girl - were victims of particularly depraved sexual comments.

Sue Walker, deputy head, said: 'Last week it came to my attention there were a number of 'burn' sites - 'Hampshire Burn', 'Leigh Park Burn' and others. I had 178 pages of the Hampshire Burn site downloaded and it was deeply unpleasant stuff. I knew immediately this was something that could get out of control and that we had to act quickly.'

Miss Walker called on schools officer PC Justine Lewis, who has since been talking to pupils about the consequences of being involved in such sites.

In particular, students could face charges of harassment and assault that could result in up to two years' imprisonment. PC Lewis said students had been given a short amnesty over the weekend to withdraw their names and comments.

'We don't want to criminalise children but if they don't take themselves off we will be calling them in individually, talking to their parents and considering criminal charges,' she said. 'This is a very difficult area to police but I'm really pleased schools have taken positive action and safer neighbourhood teams are working closely with them.'

A 'Purbrook Burn' site was taken down after the headteacher of Purbrook Park School, in Waterlooville, Hampshire, called a meeting with all 40 pupils who were members of the group.

Paul Foxley said a year 11 girl admitted to creating the page and took it down the same day. 'I made it very clear to the students that their online safety was extremely important to me - I will not tolerate any rude comments online or in person,' he said. 'As a result, a girl owned up to setting it up and it was gone in a day. She was very remorseful but we did give her a five-day internal exclusion as it was a very serious mistake on her part.'

A Facebook spokeswoman said anyone concerned about online bullying should contact the site immediately so their dedicated team can investigate and take down any offending sites immediately.

original article found here

Jailed for Running a 'Vicious' Internet Smear Campaign

A teenager who posted a death threat on Facebook, yesterday became the first person in Britain to be jailed for bullying on a social networking site.

Keeley Houghton, 18, said she would kill Emily Moore, whom she had bullied for four years since they were at school together.

On her personal page, Houghton wrote of her victim: 'Keeley is going to murder the bitch. She is an actress. What a ******* liberty. Emily ****head Moore.'

Two days before she made the threat, Houghton had intimidated Emily, who is also 18, after spotting her in a pub.

Sara Stock, prosecuting, told Worcester magistrates: 'When Emily was sitting on her own the defendant came over and sat next to her and asked her, "Are you Emily Moore? Can I have a huggle?" Emily told the defendant to leave her alone otherwise she would call the police. Keeley then told her, "I'll give you something to ring the police about".'

Yesterday, jobless Houghton sobbed as she was sentenced to three months in a young offenders' institution after pleading guilty to harassment.

She was also given a restraining order banning her from contacting Emily in person, via the internet or in any other manner for five years.

People have previously been jailed for harassment and stalking on social networking sites but she is thought to be the first to be jailed for bullying via the internet.

Houghton, of Malvern, Worcestershire, had two previous convictions relating to her vendetta against Emily, the court heard.

In 2005 she was convicted of assaulting her as she walked home from school. Houghton was subsequently expelled from school. Two years later she was convicted of causing criminal damage to Emily's home after kicking her front door.

District Judge Bruce Morgan said: 'Since Emily Moore was 14 you have waged compelling threats and violent abuse towards her.

'Bullies are by their nature cowards, in school and society. On this day you did an act of gratuitous nastiness to satisfy your own twisted nature.'

The court heard that Houghton had told police she wrote the death threats while she was drunk late at night.

But when officers examined internet records they discovered Houghton wrote the comments at 4pm on July 12 and kept them on her Facebook page for 24 hours.

Last month, an inquest heard how a schoolgirl took a fatal overdose of painkillers after bullies waged a hate campaign against her on Bebo.

Megan Gillan, 15, of Macclesfield, Cheshire, swallowed the tablets to avoid a science exam after classmates posted spiteful messages on the social networking site.

She was found dead in bed by her parents after she failed to come down for breakfast on the day of the exam.

Her death prompted the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, to criticise such sites, saying they encouraged teenagers to build 'transient relationships' that can leave them traumatised when they collapse.

The archbishop, who was appointed to the post in April, said the sites encouraged young people to put too much emphasis on the number of friends they have rather than on the quality of their relationships.

Emma Jane Cross, from campaign group Beatbullying, said yesterday: 'The sentencing of an 18-year-old girl for cyber bullying is the first of its kind in the UK and sets an important precedent.

'Cyber bullying is a worrying and fast growing trend which can be more harmful than typical schoolyard bullying.'

Drama on Facebook
Facebook is used by tens of millions of people across the world, but the way some users use the site has led to various dramas.

Last week, a picture surfaced of an alleged Facebook sacking, after an employee ranted about her boss online. He promptly replied, reminding her she had added him as a 'friend' before promptly firing her.

Meanwhile term 'Facebook Rage' is entering our language, often defined as feeling anger when a relationship breaks down and a former partner begins posting updates about their love-life.

It has also been used to describe users, convinced their other half is cheating, who spend hours stalking their partner online in a bid the find further proof to fuel their suspicions, deliberately searching for incriminating evidence.

Facebook was also in the dock a fortnight ago after a judge banned a gang of thugs from posting menacing photographs of themselves online.

In a landmark ruling, nine men pictured making gun gestures on social networking websites will be locked up if such images appear again.

Judge Clement Goldstone QC issued the ban while sentencing members of the Fallowfield Mad Dogs gang for affray. He was shown pictures of them pulling gun poses and talking about 'preparing for war' on a networking site.

Teacher Sonya McNally, 35, from Grimsby, is also currently suspended on full pay since calling her 13-year-old pupils ‘bad’ in a private conversation on the social networking site.

original article here

Serial Bigamist, Charles "Ed" Hicks Gets Another Year

from our friends & supporters at Fight Bigamy:


Serial bigamist, online predator, Charles Edward 'Ed' Hicks received a four-year sentence with three years suspended for violating his parole according to Derek Wagner, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney for the City of Chesapeake, VA. Hicks is also known as the Dr. Phil Bigamist.

Hicks told the Court that he had been unable to contact his parole officer because he had a stroke and somehow got to Florida where he was living on a boat. He also told the Court he had a bachelor's degree in engineering from Cal Poly and a Master's Degree from the University of Washington! (all complete fabrications!) Hicks went on to say that a TV documentary had been done about him and ruined his 'good name'!

Hicks had been writing to several women he met on online dating sites for over a year. Despite claiming he was ill and that was why he hadn't reported to his probation office since early 2008, he was well enough to travel the state of Florida, ride a bike ten miles a day, and climb the 30' mast of the sailboat where he was living.

Hicks was arrested last month in Key Largo, Florida on a warrant from Virginia for violating his parole.

Ladies....this man is an on-line predator. When he gets out of jail, he will start doing the same thing again. If you are going to pursue online dating, at a minimum Google the person's name. (Hicks was EOPC's very first PREDATOR OF THE MONTH and we are glad all this information helped in his capture and re-incarceration. GOOGLE PEOPLE YOU MEET ONLINE!! PLEASE!! and stay away from Online Dating where predators like Hicks just PARK themselves and troll for new victims.)

For more information, see the article in the Virginian-Pilot.

Felony Charges for Fake Internet Posting & Harassment

(MISSOURI) A St. Peters mom faces felony charges for allegedly making a fake posting on Craigslist.

It will be a landmark case.

She's the first person charged with a felony under a new Missouri internet harassment law.

Forty-year-old Elizabeth Thrasher is accused of making a sexually suggestive ad in the "casual encounters" section of Craigslist to embarrass a 17-year-old girl.

The girl is the daughter of a woman who is now dating Thrasher's ex-husband.

The ad contained the 17-year-old's picture, cell phone number and place of employment. After it went online, the girl started receiving calls, texts and even pornography from men responding to the ad.

Prosecutors say this is harassment and it falls under a new law written in response to the suicide death of 13-year-old Megan Meier.

Meier received disturbing MySpace messages from an adult writing from a fake account.

In this case, Thrasher is over 21 and the victim is under 17, so it qualifies as a felony.

But Thrasher's lawyer says the charge does not fit the crime.

He says the new law is poorly written and doesn't apply in this case.

"The statute is very poorly crafted," says Thrasher's lawyer, Mike Kielty. "And the behavior in this case that's alleged to be criminal is anything but."

Prosecutors disagree.

"The fact that someone went on another website and created a fake post in someone's name, I think that's exactly what this statue was written for," says St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas.

Thrasher is due in court again at the end of the month. She posted bond so she is not in custody. Her lawyer says she plans to plead not guilty.

original post here

ED HICKS GETS 1 YEAR IN JAIL

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

ED HICKS - OUR FIRST PREDATOR OF THE MONTH: ARRESTED!!

(from EOPC's Archives, December 2005 - Hicks was release in October 2006 and is currently living in South Carolina -- possibly looking for new targets)

From THE WASHINGTON POST

'Dr. Phil' Helps Find Va. Bigamy Suspect
Viewer Recognizes Man as Sister's Beau

By Tom Jackman -- Washington Post Staff Writer

Who needs "America's Most Wanted" when you've got "Dr. Phil" to help capture supposed outlaws?

The case of Charles "Ed" Hicks, the Alexandria area man who has been married seven times but divorced only five, was featured yesterday on the syndicated "Dr. Phil" television show to emphasize the danger of bigamous men. A North Carolina woman spotted Hicks during the show's airing in the Charlotte area and said, "Oh my God, he's dating my sister!"

She called her sister, and then she called police.

Hicks, 61, was indicted last week in Chesapeake, Va., on a charge of felony bigamy. A warrant was issued, but he had not been arrested. The North Carolina women notified the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County police, and officers there arrested him at his current girlfriend's apartment at 1:35 p.m., said Julia Rush, a spokeswoman for the Mecklenburg County sheriff's office.

Hicks was living in the Hybla Valley area of Fairfax with his seventh wife, Sandra Phipps Hicks, when Sandra Hicks discovered he was still married to his sixth wife, Julie Flint Hicks. Ed Hicks was arrested on a charge of bigamy in Fairfax, but that charge was dismissed when it was determined that his sixth marriage also was bigamous and therefore invalid.

Linda Hembree of Shelby, N.C., said she first called her sister to say that Ed Hicks was on television. "She didn't believe it," Hembree said. "I said, 'Well, honey, turn on 'Dr. Phil!' "

Hembree said her sister, Barbara Hembree of Charlotte, had been dating Hicks for eight months after meeting him on the Internet. It was about eight months ago that Sandra Hicks discovered Hicks's history and booted him out.

Linda Hembree said Hicks had proposed to her sister last month, but Barbara Hembree wasn't ready to get married. Barbara Hembree, 54, was too upset yesterday to discuss the situation, Linda Hembree said.

"He was the most smooth-talking man I've ever met in my life," Linda Hembree said. She said Hicks had been shipping boxes to her sister's storage space in Charlotte in recent months and last week began spending much more time in North Carolina.

2005 The Washington Post Company