Crime In Charlotte, NC

After hearing all the states evidence against him, Richard T. Mays, 48, pled guilty late Thursday afternoon to two counts of statutory rape. A Judge sentenced him to serve 40 years in prison.

The states evidence showed Mays preyed on troubled teenage girls- primarily through MySpace. In late 2005, two girls, aged 14 & 15, came forward and said they had been raped and physically assaulted by Richard Mays from 2004-2005.

Mays went to the teenagers homes several times while their parents weren't home and sexually assaulted the girls- with physical violence involved.

On November 3, 2005, Mays was arrested and charged with ten counts of statutory rape, seven counts of indecent liberties with a minor, solicitation of a child by computer, two counts of second degree sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of third degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

One of the Jurors in the case e-mailed me this morning and said, "He was much more than just a statutory rapist. He is pure evil."

Biological evidence led CMPD's Sexual Assault Cold Case detectives to identify and charge two suspects in separate sexual assaults from 2000.

Christopher Lynn Porter, 31, pled guilty yesterday and received a sentence of 12 1/2- 16 years for the June 6, 2000 rape of a woman off Milton Road on Barrington Drive.

In the early morning hours on June 4, 2000, the victim was walking home when Christopher Porter first approached her. A few minutes later he returned with a bandana covering his face, forced her behind the apartments and robbed & raped her at knife point.

Porter has been in custody in South Carolina on federal drug charges and was brought to Mecklenburg County to face charges of first degree rape, first degree kidnapping and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

Porter will be returned to the South Carolina prison to serve the remainder of that sentence. When released in 2011, he will be brought back to Mecklenburg County to serve the sentence in this case.

Michael Neville Watson, 33, was arrested on December 21, 2007 in New Orleans on a fugitive warrant for the June 11, 2000 sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl off Wilkinson Boulevard.

On June 11, 2000, two victims (father and daughter) were at a storage facility loading papers for delivery when the suspect, armed with a shotgun, approached them. The suspect restrained the father, robbed them and then drove around with the daughter before sexually assaulting her.

Watson was transported to Charlotte after his arrest in New Orleans and has been charged with two counts of first degree sexual assault, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon. Watson is being held in the Mecklenburg County Jail with a $350,000 bond.

The CMPD Sexual Assault Cold Case detectives identified and charged 36-year old Darrell Boyd (R) with two brutal sexual assaults committed in 1998:

May 1, 1998: Vinca Circle @ 9:30 am: 22 year-old victim was home alone in her apartment. The suspect entered the apartment through the front door armed with a handgun. He held the victim and sexually assaulted her for more than an hour before fleeing.

May 14, 1998: English Hills Drive @ 11:00 pm. The victim was home alone in her apartment. The suspect entered her residence through a sliding glass door. He held the victim in her residence for nearly three hours, physically and sexually assaulting her, before fleeing.

Police say Boyd was scheduled to be released December 13th from a correctional facility in Ohio where he had been serving two years for a crime he committed there. Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Deputies traveled to the facility over the weekend and transported Boyd back to Charlotte and booked him into the Mecklenburg County Jail.

In addition to an unrelated charge for Trafficking Heroin, Darrell Boyd has been charged with the following crimes: 4 counts 1st degree Rape; 2 counts 2nd degree Rape; 4 counts 1st degree Sex Offense; 3 counts 2nd degree Sex Offense; 2 counts 1st degree Kidnapping; 1 count Robbery; 1 count 1st degree Burglary; 1 count Felony B&E

* Read CMPD Press Release *

UPDATE: 10/5/2007: Glenn Haven Vinson was arrested and charged with the sexual assault.

Last Thursday, a woman was sexually assaulted at 305 Archdale Drive by the man shown in the photo to the right. Police are looking to identify this man and put him where he belongs... behind bars!

The suspect is described as a black male, 6'0"-6'1", approx. 200 lbs., with a mustache and goatee. The suspect was wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans and driving an early 90's model dark colored Honda Accord, with paint damage on the hood of the car. The car also had a spoiler and the third brake light was located in the spoiler.

If you have any information about the identity of this man, please contact Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.

PHOTOS:
* Suspect Vehicle
Suspect: Photo 1 & Photo 2

CMPD arrested & charged 42-year old Kelvin J. Jones (aka Jeffrey Calvin Jones) after he attacked a woman inside the Park Road Park around 11:30 this morning.

Police say Kelvin Jones approached the female victim, who was sitting on a bench reading a book inside the park. Jones forced her to go with him behind a building and sexually assaulted and robbed her.

Jones was attempting to take her to a second location when she ran away and began screaming, which attracted attention from others in the park. Jones tried to run away but a few good citizens chased him into a pond- where he stayed until police arrived.

Police say Jones' record shows previous charges in North Carolina and Florida- including; murder, aggravated assault, sexual assault and drug possession. Jones is in the Mecklenburg County Jail charged with first degree kidnapping, Armed Robbery and Misdemeanor Sexual Battery.

Travis Leslie Manuel, 38, was a teacher's assistant at Providence High School up until he was arrested Thursday on a sexual battery charge. The incident occurred off-campus and involved a handicapped woman.

Travis Manuel worked with exceptional children at CMS. He was suspended with pay until the police investigation is complete. Manuel's charges include sexual battery by force, assault on a female and assault on a handicapped person. His bail was set at $42,000.

Joseph Keith Perry became acquainted with police when he was 16-years old. He was arrested for stealing a car. At age 18, he was caught carrying a weapon on school grounds.

When Perry was 19-years old, he was out robbing and raping people at gunpoint. Police say Perry approached a man and a woman as they were working on a cell tower site off Brookshire Blvd. Perry held them at gunpoint, took their vehicle and abducted the female victim.

As Perry drove away with the female, the male attempted to help her and Perry fired several shots at him. Perry then took the female to a cemetery off of Beatties Ford Rd, where he sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. The brutal attack occurred in 2003, however, he was not forensically connected to the crime until this month.

Somehow, Perry managed to avoid police for two years. My guess is he skipped town after the robbery and rape. He was back in business when he turned 21. He was arrested three times; once for selling drugs and twice for assaulting a female. When Perry was 22, he violated a protection order. Now... Perry is 23-years old and facing charges which could land him in prison for the rest of his life!

Perry's Criminal Career:
· Age 16: Arrested for stealing a car
· Age 17: Convicted of receiving a stolen vehicle– Received probation
· Age 18: Convicted of possessing a weapon on campus – Received probation
· Age 19: Committed an armed robbery, rape and assault against two victims. – Arrested in ‘07
· Age 21: Arrested for selling, possessing and delivering cocaine
· Age 21: Arrested for assault on a female & possession of marijuana
· Age 22: Convicted of selling drugs- Received probation
· Age 22: Convicted of assaulting a female- Received probation
· Age 22: Arrested again for assaulting a female
· Age 23: Arrested for violating a domestic protection order
· Age 23: Arrested for a terrible and violent crime he committed when he was 19. He is facing charges of: Robbery, first and second degree kidnapping, first and second degree sex offenses, first and second degree rape, assault on a female, felonious restraint and assault with a deadly weapon- with the intent to kill.

Police are investigating a violent home invasion and rape that occurred in the Twelve Oaks subdivision around 6 o'clock this morning. Investigators say a man armed with a gun forced his way into a home.

He pistol whipped the father and forced him and his wife into a bathroom- threatening to kill them if they came out. Police say the assailant then sexually assaulted the couple's 17 year old daughter, took some money from the family and ran.

Investigators don’t know why this home was targeted and neighbors are upset since the perpetrator is still on the loose. Officers are looking for a black man in his 20's who is about 6 feet tall and weighs around 200 pounds. He has a round face and dreadlocks. The man was wearing a dark jacket and carrying a chrome handgun. Police are asking anyone who may have seen a man fitting the description call Crime Stoppers at (704) 334-1600. -WSOC-TV

Police say just after 11 p.m. Wednesday night two masked men forced their way into a woman's home on Conifer Circle in northeast Charlotte at gunpoint. Officers say they sexually assaulted the woman, then stole a wall clock, a safe and a large painting and took off in the victim's car.


Police recovered the victim's car on Burnett Avenue in the Boulevard Homes area of west Charlotte. They said they only have a vague description of the robbers, who the victim said were black men wearing masks. Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at (704) 334-1600. Source: WSOC-TV

A female high school student was sexually assaulted by a security officer at Vance High School in late February. The question is... why wasn't an official police report made for 10 days?

WSOC-TV reports:

The girl told school officials that a security officer, hired to patrol the hallways, had assaulted her in one of the buildings, fondling her breasts and exposing himself to her. The student said the assault happened on Feb. 27 at Vance High School, but the victim didn't report the incident until March 3, a week later. School officials and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police learned about the assault that day and began an investigation, but didn't file an official report until March 13.

"A report was not filed until yesterday, so we've initiated an internal investigation to find out why a report was not filed until that time," said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Deputy Chief Dave Stephens.

As a result of the delay, Stephens said they hadn't assigned the case to a rape investigator until Tuesday. Meanwhile, the school suspended the security officer with pay on March 3, the same day they learned about the allegations. But it all happened very quietly.