75-year-old Amish widower scammed by prosty
"A 75-year-old Amish widower, afraid his church community would find out about him seeking sex from a prostitute, was scammed out of more than $67,000 from the prostitute and her boyfriend, a prosecutor says." Reporting from Chardon, Ohio, the Associated Press describes the scam that allegedly victimized Jake Byler:
Kimberly M. Webber, 35, and Patrick T. Lansdowne, 41, of Cleveland, were indicted Tuesday on six felony charges, including extortion, theft from an elderly person and burglary. . . .
Authorities said Byler was seeking sex when he responded to a newspaper ad and was referred to Webber, who met with him about six times beginning in early 2004. . . .
[Byler] told detectives that Lansdowne had convinced him that someone broke into his rural home east of Cleveland and installed a camera in the bedroom.
The AP says that according to prosecutor David Joyce, Byler "gave the pair the money because they had convinced him that photos of Byler and the prostitute would appear on the Internet."
- OJ
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