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Press Release

District Man Sentenced to 66 Years in Prison For Armed Sexual Assaults Defendant Met Victims Through Backpage.com

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia

            WASHINGTON – Prince Jones, 31, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 66 years in prison for a series of crimes, including two armed sexual assaults of women he met through online advertisements, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

            Jones was found guilty by a jury in November 2014, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, of two counts of first-degree sexual abuse while armed with aggravating circumstances; two counts of kidnapping while armed; four counts of robbery while armed; and one count of threatening to injure a person.  He was sentenced by the Honorable Jennifer Anderson. Jones also must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

            According to the government’s evidence, Jones preyed on women who advertised their services as escorts on backpage.com.  In October 2013, he lured his first victim to a building where he used to live in Southeast Washington, led her into a dark basement, where he held a knife to her throat, and forced her to perform oral sex on him.  After the assault, he forced her back to her car, where her cousin was waiting for her, and robbed both women of their cellphones and several other personal items.

            Two days later, Jones committed the exact same crime on a different woman. Detectives with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) were able to locate him within hours of the second assault.  Jones was still armed with the knife he used to commit the assaults, and he had the cell phones of all three of the victims in his car with him.  DNA recovered from the second sexual assault victim’s sexual assault kit, as well as DNA recovered from the crime scene, linked the defendant to the second assault.        

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen praised the work of the officers and detectives of the Metropolitan Police Department, including the Sexual Assault Unit.  He also commended the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Victim/Witness Advocate Elsa Resendiz; Victim Services Specialist LaJune Thames, Paralegal Specialists Tiffany Jones and Wanda Trice; Information Technology Specialist Leif Hickling, and Criminal Investigator John Marsh.  Finally, he expressed appreciation for the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jodi Lazarus who investigated, indicted and tried the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Uma Amuluru, who co-tried the case.

15-033

Updated March 13, 2015

Press Release Number: 15-033