Man gets 18 months for Craigslist attack

A county judge yesterday had some strong words for an Odenton man police believed tried to sexually assault two women he met on Craigslist.

"I think you are a sexual predator," Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner said. "I think you are out there looking for people who are vulnerable and taking advantage of them."

But after reviewing what he perceived as a weak case against the man, Hackner brokered a deal that would send Jasyen Aaron Shelton to jail for only 18 months. However, the judge could still lock him up for another eight years if he doesn't turn his life around.

"This is nowhere near what you deserve," Hackner said of the sentence in county Circuit Court in Annapolis.

Shelton, 21, of Colonel Way, who as a juvenile also was convicted of molesting a prepubescent girl, entered an Alford plea to one count each of armed robbery and taking part in a perverted practice for an April 24 attack on a woman he met outside a Linthicum restaurant.

An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain his innocence while admitting that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him. It carries all the consequences of a guilty plea.

In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped a charge of attempted first-degree sexual assault in that case. They also agreed to drop an entire second case, explaining they could not locate the woman who claimed Shelton attacked her April 30 inside a Linthicum hotel.

"It was a pragmatic decision," said Assistant State's Attorney Crighton Chase, explaining why he didn't take the April 24 incident to trial. He noted he had "significant concerns" about how a jury would receive the victim's testimony, since she changed her story several times and ultimately admitted she met Shelton that night with a loose plan of trading sex for money.

The final plea agreement did not require Shelton to register with the state as a sex offender, but will require that he submit a DNA sample to a federal database, he said.

The Capital does not name victims of alleged sexual assault.

According to prosecutors, Shelton answered an advertisement he saw on Craigslist and met a woman April 24 in the parking lot of the Bob Evans at 996 Corporate Blvd. in Linthicum.

The woman - who initially didn't tell police about the Craigslist ad - said Shelton pulled a knife on her shortly after they met. She said he pushed her into his car, stole her purse, and threatened to rape and kill her, police said.

Later, she told police that he forced her to perform a sex act and that she managed to escape.

The woman called police that night and gave officers Shelton's name, but detectives didn't arrest him until after the April 30 incident.

In that case, according to court documents, a woman from Chicago told police she regularly visited the area and saw Shelton whenever she was in town. In April, she agreed over the phone to have sex with him at the Holiday Inn at 890 Elkridge Landing Road in Linthicum.

But when Shelton came to her room, he pulled a folding knife and demanded money.

Police said he held the knife to the woman's neck and sexually assaulted her. He then took $200 from her wallet and left the room.

The victim - whom prosecutors have been unable to locate since April - immediately called the front desk. There, a hotel employee took down Shelton's license plate number and relayed it to police along with a description.

Shelton was arrested near the hotel in a car similar to the one involved in the April 24 attack. Detectives contacted the victim from the first attack about a week later, and she picked Shelton out of a photographic lineup, police said.

Stephanie D. Kinder, Shelton's defense attorney, noted yesterday that there were several discrepancies in the state's case. She questioned the victim's credibility, noting that she changed her story several times.

Chase, on the other hand, noted that when Shelton was 16 he was adjudicated delinquent in juvenile court of second-degree sex offense. He said Shelton forced a girl under the age of 10 to perform a sex act.

Hackner sentenced Shelton to 10 years in prison, but suspended all but 18 months in a county jail. Upon his release, Shelton will be on probation for five years.

Hackner also ordered Shelton to get counseling and stay away from drugs and alcohol.

"Whatever demons are possessing you, try to arrest them," Hackner told Shelton. "You've gotten a huge break at this point and you will not get a second one."