PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN 6) — A 24-year-old woman told police that she escaped after being kidnapped, physically and sexually assaulted by a man she met on Facebook.
On Friday, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Jameson Kirpal Hedges. He is accused of one count each of first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, first-degree kidnap, attempted first-degree unlawful sexual penetration, third-degree robbery, coercion, strangulation, and fourth-degree assault.
According to an affidavit written by Portland Police Detective Michael Weinstein, on May 16 the 24-year-old victim made a frantic 911 call from the elevator of the Harrison West condominium building in the 200 block of Southwest Harrison Street to report that she had been attacked.
Portland Police Officer Larent Bonczijk responded and was told by the victim that “she was physically and sexually assaulted” by Hedges “…after he had lured her into his residence under the false pretenses of having offered her a job interview,” Weinstein wrote.Facebook messaging, reported job offer
Hedges and the victim reportedly met on Facebook on May 1, 2015. The victim initially described Hedges as an “acquaintance,” court documents show. When Weinstein looked through the victim’s Facebook account, he found that Hedges — who used the name “Jamey Hedges” on the site — had messaged the victim on May 1, 2015. She responded by asking if she knew him. The victim told Weinstein that Hedges suggested to her that they knew mutual online “friends,” the affidavit states.
Weinstein read through “numerous” messages that spanned a two-week period, the affidavit states. Hedges initiated the messaging and repeatedly suggested that the victim meet him in person, the affidavit states. He wrote that he may have a job for her after learning that the woman was looking for a second job, court documents state. Hedges claimed he was hiring a personal assistant, court documents state.
The woman turned him down several times to meet with Hedges, court documents state. Finally, he convinced her to come down to his southwest condominium, which is owned by his parents, court documents state. He told the woman that they could “watch movies, eat take-out food and find out whether or not they might be compatible to work together,” Weinstein wrote.Hedges initially described as polite
On May 16, the victim agreed to meet with Hedges “outside” his residence, court documents state. Video from the condo building reportedly shows Hedges leading the victim into the building after he used his key fob at the front door, court documents state. The victim told police that Hedges kissed her once while they were talking and then apologized “for having acted unprofessionally,” Weinstein wrote. Hedges also reportedly “hugged” the woman “for an uncomfortably long time on his balcony,” Weinstein wrote. The woman told police that at first, aside from those acts, Hedges had been otherwise “polite and non-threatening” as they talked.
According to Weinstein’s affidavit, when the woman walked into the condo unit Hedges told her that his television was broken so they would have to watch the movies in his bedroom. The woman declined the offer, the affidavit states. Inside condo, Hedges reportedly started drinking vodka. The woman was finally convinced to drink two large shots of vodka, Weinstein wrote.
When the woman went to the bathroom, after becoming ill, she could not find her cellphone that was usually in her purse, court documents state. The victim asked Hedges if he had taken her phone and she said yes, telling her “she did not need to be distracted by her phone while they were getting to know one another,” Weinstein wrote.
The woman used the restroom where she vomited and as she exited, Hedges “suddenly came up behind her, grabbing her by her hair violently, as (he) used his other hand to grab around her neck.” He then pulled her down the hall “shoved her into his bedroom…and down onto his bed,” Weinstein wrote. He reportedly warned her that if she did not hold still “things would get worse for her.”
The victim told police that she was too scared to fight back, court documents state.
When the woman regained consciousness she found herself naked on Hedge’s bed, court documents state. She was then dragged into Hedge’s living room “where she woke up again to Hedges sitting on her chest,” Weinstein wrote.
After the reported attack, Hedges told the woman to get dressed because she was going to go with him to an ATM “to prove her loyalty to him by withdrawing all her money to give to him,” Weinstein wrote. The victim told police that she gave Hedges her PIN.
When Hedges went into his bathroom, the woman gathered her clothing and fled the condo. A woman who lives in the Harrison West condo building told police that she found the woman inside the elevator. The witness told police that the woman was “hysterically crying, begging her to stay with her because of what happened upstairs,” Weinstein wrote.Sexual Assault Exam Performed at OHSU
According to the affidavit, when police responded to the downtown condo on May 16, Officer Bonczijk took the victim to Oregon Health & Science University where a sexual assault examination was performed by a nurse. The nurse documented that the victim showed signs of injury and had suffered a loss of consciousness, court documents state. The victim’s neck was reported as “reddened, swollen,” court documents state. The nurse’s report showed “bruising and scratches” to the victim’s breasts with “scratch marks, fingernail marks,” court documents state.
The sexual assault examination kit was processed by Oregon State Police. DNA evidence was discovered, court documents state. According to police, the DNA is “more likely than not” Hedges’.Hedges describes himself as a ‘gentle giant’
According to court records, police had the woman call Hedges while Weinstein listened into the conversation. At first, Hedges told the woman that he had no memories of what happened, court documents state. He said that he had too much to drink and that he “blacked out,” court documents state. When the victim challenged him and questioned him why he grabbed her hair and assaulted her, Hedges “simply told her he was sorry,” Weinstein wrote. During the phone call, Hedges told the woman that he was “really a ‘gentle giant,’” Weinstein wrote.
The victim hung up the phone.
Weinstein wrote that he was there when the woman hung up and saw her phone go off with text message alerts. They were from Hedges who pledged not to drink again and said that he wanted to “talk this out.”
Court records show that Hedges turned himself into the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday at 1 p.m. He was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center. His bail has been set at $780,000. Public defender Thomas MacNair represented Hedges for his arraignment and entered a not guilty plea on Hedges’ behalf. Two people who attended the hearing and left when it was immediately after it was completed, declined to say if they were family members.
Investigators continue to look into the case. Anyone with information about this or similar incidents is asked to contact PPB Detective Mike Weinstein at 503.823.0764 or through Mike.Weinstein@PortlandOregon.gov