JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A suspected serial rapist with crimes dating back more than 20 years has been arrested. Jason Blount is accused of ambushing women he didn’t know.
Detectives have linked Blount to at least four attacks. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said it believes there may be more victims in Jacksonville and other cities.
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Action News Jax obtained the arrest reports for three of the victims.
These heavily redacted arrest reports show two rapes Blount is charged with happened in the year 2000, and the third happened in 2002.
Blount, 52, was recently arrested in Orange County for robbery. When he was booked, they collected his DNA and when that sample was entered into the system, it matched the three Jacksonville cases.
Detectives also identified a fourth victim, who was elderly at the time of her attack, and has since died.
RELATED: JSO: Orlando man arrested for rape in three Jacksonville cases from early 2000s
The first rape happened on March 13, 2000, in the 7900 block of Baymeadows Circle West. The victim was out jogging when she was attacked, according to the arrest report.
The second attack happened one month later on April 13, 2000, and the third attack happened in September 2002. We cannot tell you the locations of the two later incidents because those reports are heavily redacted.
All three rapes happened at night while the victims were alone, the reports show. All thee victims reported getting rape kits done after they were attacked. Those rape kits were sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
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All three arrest reports state that on June 10, a cold case detective for JSO received some sort of notice from FDLE. Then on July 1, Blount was arrested.
We asked Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters about what it feels like to know that the police work done decades ago, allowed his investigators to make an arrest in these cases now.
“Super satisfying,” Waters said. ”More than that, we get a predator off the street and put him in a position where he’s got to answer to his crimes for the justice system, and we can move on to the next one.
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Teresa Miles is the Executive Director of the Women’s Center of Jacksonville. She said the arrest of a suspect so many years after the sexual battery could be triggering to sexual assault victims.
“I think that when you learn about someone being arrested after this many decades, you certainly want to feel some level of relief. But also those memories just can very easily come flooding back,” Miles said.
Blount is set to be arraigned on July 23. If you are a victim of sexual assault, Miles is encouraging that your reach out the Women’s Center of Jacksonville at 904-721-7273.
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