DA: Mass. man stole women's Facebook profiles to lure rapists
HAVERHILL, Mass. -- A Massachusetts man has been charged with impersonating women online and soliciting men to rape them, CBS Boston reports.
Prosecutors say Thomas Sheehan, 45, stole multiple women's Facebook profiles and used them on adult websites to lure men.
"Sheehan solicited men to use dangerous weapons on the woman as part of the assault that he was soliciting," prosecutor Tom Ralph said.
Groveland Police, acting on a tip, managed to track Sheehan on a website called collarspace.com, where he was allegedly impersonating a Groveland woman, using pictures he pirated from her Facebook page, according to the affiliate.
Six of Sheehan's alleged victims went to court Tuesday, the station reported. One of the dozen women police believe Sheehan impersonated said she used to work with Sheehan at Logan Airport, but that she hadn't seen him since the late 1980s.
"We all just want to stand up and smile at him, to let him know that it's not just this one victim that we are all here together," said one of the women, who chose to remain anonymous.
Sheehan stared at the floor as prosecutors detailed his alleged bizarre crimes.
Because none of the women were physically attacked, his defense attorney claims his acts were part of a fantasy rather than a crime, the station reported. However the judge in the case, noting Sheehan distributed his victim's addresses, set bail at $15,000 cash and ordered him to wear a GPS bracelet and stay off of the Internet.
"None of these women was aware or consented to the graphic and violent rape requests that Sheehan made on their behalf," Ralph said.