Clearwater man, 30, charged with sexually abusing 2 girls

Sheriff's officials say the suspect told them that he molested even more children.

By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 22, 2003

CLEARWATER -- A local man has been charged with sexually abusing two children and has admitted to investigators that he has molested more, Pinellas sheriff's officials said on Friday.

Michael A. Jones, 30, of Clearwater was arrested on Thursday morning on five child-sex abuse charges. He is accused of sexually abusing a preschool age girl this month and a teenage girl three years ago, arrest reports state.

He videotaped the abuse, which led to his arrest, reports state.

During the investigation, Jones acknowledged abusing more children, and sheriff's detectives are hoping those victims will come forward, said Marianne Pasha, a Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.

Pasha would not say how many more victims there might be, but she said the investigation is active.

"It was more than one, more than two," she said. "We have other leads we're looking into that lead us to believe there may be others out there that may want to talk to us," she said.

Jones came under investigation this month after a woman he knows found a videotape in a pillowcase behind a dresser. When she watched the videotape, arrest reports state, she saw a recording of Jones sexually abusing her preschool-age daughter.

The woman recognized tattoos on the hands of the suspect, reports state. The word "love" is spelled out on the digits of his left hand; the word "hate" is spelled out on the digits of his right hand.

"These tattoos are easily recognizable in the video," child abuse Detective Lorie Fagan wrote in an arrest affidavit.

When Jones became aware he was under investigation, arrest reports state, he left a message on the woman's answering machine, saying, "I'm very sorry, I have a problem and I need help." Detectives found another videotape in which they say Jones recorded himself sexually abusing a teenage girl. That abuse occurred in 2000, arrest reports state. Investigators also interviewed that victim.

Jones has been charged with two counts of capital sexual battery, two counts of sexual performance by a child and a single count of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

He was being held at the Pinellas County Jail on Friday night without bail.

Pasha said Jones, who works as a welder, has previously lived in St. Petersburg. He has no previous arrests for child sex abuse.

Anyone with information about Jones is asked to call detectives at 582-6200.

-- Chris Tisch can be reached at 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com .

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