Crime & Safety

Marblehead Man Sentenced for Rape and Semi-Nude Facebook Photos

The man was sentenced to state prison.

A Marblehead man pleaded guilty Tuesday in Salem Superior Court to rape and indecent assault and battery charges after he posted nude photographs of the victim on Facebook.  

He also pleaded guilty to identity theft and photographing an unsuspecting person in the nude.

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Salem Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead sentenced Reid Jones, 44, to 5 – 7 years in state prison, stated Carrie Kimball Monahan, spokeswoman for the office of Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.

Jones was also sentenced to 5 years of probation during which he must register as a sex offender, seek substance abuse and sex offender treatment, wear a GPS monitoring bracelet and have no contact with the victim, the spokeswoman said.

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Had the case gone to trial, Essex Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall would have introduced evidence that would have proven that the defendant sexually assaulted the victim while she was unconscious and partially nude, photographed those acts and posted them to a fake Facebook page he created in her name, the spokeswoman said.  

After the victim had stopped socializing with the defendant, she was alerted to the fraudulent Facebook page containing the photographs, the spokeswoman said.  

After she reported that to the police, a forensic examination of the defendant’s computer revealed additional photographs depicting a rape, the spokeswoman said.

“This crime is particularly horrifying as the victim was sexually assaulted and was then further violated by the posting of the photographs,” ADA MacDougall said.  “The impact of this crime will have a lingering effect on this victim since there is no way to ensure that the photographs are fully removed from the Internet.”

“The shame associated with a sexual assault is painful enough without the additional burden of having photographs of the assault posted on Facebook,” District Attorney Blodgett said.  “It took great courage for this victim to come forward and to see this case through.”

Jones was represented by Attorney William Korman and was taken into custody at the conclusion of the hearing.


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