Cops use dating site to lure guy who beat up his girlfriend during breakup

By Angela Matua


Cops from the 114th Precinct were able to find and arrest a violent criminal in Astoria, NY using non-traditional bait – the dating site Plenty of Fish, the precinct’s commander reported on Tuesday night. On Dec. 5, 2016 at about 7:20 a.m., officers received a call about an assault in progress in Astoria. The victim told them that, while attempting to break up with her boyfriend, he punched her in the face with a nail in his hand. The woman suffered a laceration near her left eye, according to Deputy Inspector Peter Fortune, commanding officer of the 114th Precinct. Cops were unable to find him, but they took a complaint report and kept the investigation open.

Officer Otto Pereira, a member of the domestic violence unit, took on the case. During the investigation, Pereira found out that the suspect had six criminal contempt charges for violating an order of protection from the same woman. It was also discovered that he had checked into a drug rehabilitation center after the assault.

For weeks, it was impossible for police to know here he was being treated because of patient confidentiality laws. A break in the case came when the victim alerted police to a dating site profile he created on Plenty of Fish. The free online dating site has more than 90 million registered users, according to its website.

Pereira advised the victim to make a fake profile to lure in her ex-boyfriend into a meeting. “Surprisingly, after several days the perpetrator took the bait,” Fortune said. On Jan. 25, the victim also called the suspect and convinced him to meet her at a bar in Manhattan. While the victim stayed at the precinct, a female officer went to the location to act as a decoy and the NYPD Warrent Squad was also there.

The suspect was arrested at the bar. The NYPD worked with District Attorney Richard A. Brown’s office to “enhance the case,” Fortune said. They discovered that the suspect, who is in his late 30s, had 42 previous arrests. Because of his arrests and six criminal contempt charges, the victim is now remanded in jail on an attempted murder charge.

Officer Pereira was honored with the Cop of the Month award for January during the Feb. 28 114th Precinct Community Council meeting “for his professionalism in which he conducted this though investigation,” Fortune said.

Another Woman Raped by Person She Met Online

By Leon Watson

Internet daters have been warned after a legal secretary was raped by a man she met on a popular dating website.

Peter Ramsey, 26, beat the woman to the ground, ripped off her tights and had sex with her when she refused him a goodnight kiss at her front door. Ramsey punched the 27-year-old repeatedly knocking out one of her front teeth and left her with 21 injuries. Her facial wounds were among the most shocking detectives investigating the case had ever seen.

The sex attacker was caught after using the victim's Oyster travelcard to board a nightbus within minutes of the attack in Clapham, south west London.

Ramsey and the woman had spent four days chatting on plentyoffish.com site which claims on its homepage to be 'responsible for more dates and more relationships than any other dating site'. They arranged to meet for drinks in Brixton town centre at 7pm.

She later said: 'He seemed like a nice guy. The date was going very well. I thought we had a lot in common.' In the early hours of August 27 last year they went for something to eat before climbing into a cab to her flat near Clapham Common. She believed he was going to walk her to her front door but when he lent in for a kiss and she pulled back, he 'switched'.

In the communal entrance to the block, he pinned her against the wall and rained down punches on her face until she slumped to the ground. When she screamed for help he used one hand to cover her mouth and pinch her nose shut, while continuing to hit her with the other fist. 'I thought I was going to die,' she told Inner London Crown Court.


A 'SEVERE RISK' TO WOMEN

Outside court DC Huggins praised the SOIT role which was crucial in securing the conviction. He said of the result: 'I feel relieved that somebody like Ramsey who had access via the internet to so many women, is now safely behind bars.

'He posed a severe risk to other women on that internet site, which he had been using for a number of years. I would urge people using dating websites to thoroughly vet the people they meet and before they spend time alone. I would also like to thank my SOIT officer, who had the initial contact with the victim. I would like to reassure other potential victims that there are people who are willing to listen to them and take their allegations very seriously in order to bring the perpetrator to justice.

'The victim in this case is relieved about the verdict. She was also concerned for other women and that if he had walked free, there would have been other victims. This woman was unrecognisable after the attack, compared to the woman who gave evidence. Fortunately she has recovered from her physical injuries. I have been in the police for 14 years and these were some of the most shocking facial injuries I have ever seen.'

Ramsey, who has several previous convictions for shoplifting and assaulting police officers, but none for violence or sexual offences against women, then stole the bleeding woman's bag.

As he left she staggered to her feet and called to a passing man, a Muslim on his way to Ramadan prayers, and he came to her aid. The victim's mother, who had heard the screams, also rushed out to find her disfigured and traumatised daughter.

In a further insult, before Ramsey fled, he said to the pedestrian of the two women: 'Don't worry about them - they're crazy.' The rapist then used the woman's stolen Oyster card on a passing N35 bus.

The following day he left two voicemails on the victim's mobile telling her he was sorry and had now sobered up. He said he was left feeling something had happened that 'wasn't good'.

Soon after her ordeal the woman was interviewed by a specialist SOIT (Sexual Offences Interview Technique) officer from Lambeth's Sapphire Unit. PC Damien Hutton-Baber worked closely with the victim to get her detailed account, an interview which was filmed and played to the jury to reduce her time in the witness box.

Ramsey was arrested a week after the attack when a DNA match appeared to have snared him. But when he lied he had not even met the woman on that day, officers were forced to dig deeper. DC Richard Huggins, the officer in charge of the investigation, examined CCTV footage from the bus which showed him on board near the scene.

Ramsey continued to deny the rape, changing his story at trial. He put forward the defence he had consensual sex with the woman but left her rowing with another man who must have beat her.

Ramsey boasted said he had been out with 'hundreds of women' and did not need to rape because he could get anyone he wanted. But he was found unanimously guilty following a trial.

Ramsey, of no fixed address but who had been staying with friends in Forest Hill, south east London, was convicted of rape, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and theft.

Following the verdicts Judge Patricia Lees said: 'I would like an assessment of the defendant's future risk that he may pose to women. It seems to me the violence meted out was frankly horrific and wholly unnecessary to commit the offence of rape.'

Remanding him in custody ahead of sentence on April 27, Judge Lees warned him: 'You face an extremely lengthy sentence of imprisonment.' The court heard Ramsey has been diagnosed as biopolar while on remand.

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