Woman commits extortion, man faces jail

After one night together, she demanded more. When he said things were moving too fast, she threatened to go to the police and charge him with date-rape if he didn't pay her $1,000.00. He said no way, and now he faces criminal charges. It's another case of, "When women play, men pay." (Note: As this story had not been picked up by the mainstream press, the names were changed to protect their privacy.)

The facts

It looked like a slow New Years eve for Lance Astor. He and his girlfriend had just broken up, and to add insult, Lance was just getting over a case of the flu. He stopped off at Drug Emporium for some aspirin. On his way out of the store he bumped into an attractive woman, Michelle Cartier. Some how during their short conversation Michelle and Lance agreed to meet and go to a party at the Space Needle that evening.

Lance met Michelle at a predetermined spot (she did not give him her number or address). They left her car. Lance drove to the party. They spent the evening with approximately 10 other people.

As the evening ended Lance drove Michelle back to her car. It was almost 2:30 AM. Michelle then asked Lance if he would show her his house. Lance said sure. Michelle got into her car and followed him home.

One thing leads to another

Lance showed Michelle around. They talked for a while and had a drink. At about 3:45 Lance was ready to call it a night, and told Michelle that he was ready to go to sleep. She could stay on the couch, sleep with him, or she could leave, whatever she felt was best.

Michelle said she would stay, and asked for a T-shirt. She jumped into Lances' bed. They got involved in some foreplay. Lance got up and went into the bathroom and got a condom. He put on the condom. They had sex, then fell asleep. A few hours later they awoke, and Michelle asked, "you're not into morning sex?" They had sex again.

Witnesses for the defense

Just after their morning sex, at approximately 10:00 AM one of Lances' friends, John, showed up. All three talked for a while. While John was still there, Lance got up and took a shower. After he was through Michelle also took a shower. Later John left.

As the day progressed, Lance got the feeling that Michelle did not want to leave. At about 4:00 PM Lance suggested that they go to Denny's for some food. He also suggested that she take her car, hoping she would head home afterward. As they headed out the door, Michelle left her phone number on a scrap of paper. Across the street, Lances' (sometimes nosy) neighbor noticed Lance and Michelle happily leaving. After eating at Denny's, Michelle finally headed home at about 6:00 PM.

First signs of trouble

The next day the first sign of trouble appeared. Michelle left a nasty message on Lances' voice mail. Lance called her back and made arrangements to see her the next day at another restaurant.

At the restaurant things took a downslide. Michelle, acting as if the relationship had gone on for months, wanted to know what Lance planned for her. He suggested that maybe things were moving too fast. She exploded with rage and eventually walked out of the restaurant in a huff.

That night Michelle started to go off the deep end. She called and yelled at Lance a number of times. She called him a "fucker." Finally, she set the course of things to come when she told Lance, "you're going to pay." The calls continued until 2:00 AM. The next morning she started calling again at 5:00 AM, and by 10:30 she threatened to call the cops.

Self-incriminating evidence

Over the next few days Michelle continued to verbally harass Lance. He unfortunately didn't quite understand the seriousness of his situation. Because of his lack of concern, Lance had erased all of the harassing calls Michelle had left on his voice mail. But soon, that would change.

Michelle made her most threatening and damaging call on January 12th. In this call, she told Lance that he either had to pay her $1,000 or she would charge him with date rape. Luckily by this time Lance had wised up. He saved her extortion attempt and recorded it onto tape. He was not sure of what would happen but he figured this recording might help.

Police interrogation

On Friday the 13th of January, 1995, Lance finally realized how serious his encounter with Michelle was when the police arrived at his front door and hit him with a restraining order. Michelle claimed he had been harassing and stalking her. Lance was shocked.

Later, to add further insult, the police interrogated him without an attorney being present. During this interrogation, Lance was never told he was the subject of an investigation. And as a final blow, the county prosecutor is now considering filing rape charges.

As things presently are

As we go to press this story continues to unfold. I will bring you an update as soon as possible. This case is typical of what happens when an unstable woman decides to make false charges of sexual assault. But it is not typical to have any good evidence in a case like this. The significance of the recorded extortion attempt should not be underestimated. The Backlash! is watching this closely. (Names have been changed for privacy.)

Editor's Note

2013 Olympia, WA - I think this case was dropped, demonstrating that once things start to go bad, it pays to gather all the mitigating evidence you can.