Volusia County

‘He’s got it down to a science’: 6 women say accused rapist caught on camera, dragging unconscious woman also targeted them, deputies say

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Since police released information about a DeLand man accused of raping an unconscious woman after interviewing her for a job last week, a half dozen other women have come forward reporting similar stories, Volusia County deputies said Monday.

One woman said Jason Minton, 42, attacked her when she was just 14 years old.

The reports from those additional women have so far resulted in an additional felony battery charge against Minton, deputies said.

“He was slick, but his slickness ends now,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said. “He is absolutely a diabolical predator. He’s got it down to a science.”

Minton, a registered sex offender, was first accused of kidnapping, drugging and raping a woman on Tuesday after asking her to lunch to interview her for a position with his tree service company.

READ: Accused rapist caught on camera dragging woman to car denied bail

Investigators said the next thing that the woman remembers after the lunch at the River Grille on U.S. 1 was waking up at her parents’ house after they found her in her car in the restaurant’s parking lot.

Ormond Beach police said Minton was seen on surveillance footage that Tuesday afternoon dragging an unconscious woman to his car.

JASON MINTON Wanted For Sexual Battery

UPDATE - Jason Minton turned himself in at his attorney's office tonight *** In 2015, the Sheriff's Office arrested convicted sex offender Jason Minton on charges of sexual battery and kidnapping. The victim in the case reported she went out for drinks with him. After several drinks at a bar, he was supposedly going to take her to a restaurant. Instead, he brought her to his house and forced a pill down her throat. The victim said she became incapacitated and faded in and out of consciousness while he raped her. The case went to trial, and Minton had local defense attorneys Aaron Delgado and David Damore on his side. What happened next is described on the Aaron Delgado & Associates website, in a post titled "From Life in Prison to Complete Freedom in 48 Hours." You can read their full account at https://communitylawfirm.com/facing-life-in-prison The short version is: Minton’s attorneys were able to prevent evidence of a prior offense from coming into the trial. In their own words, “Mr. Delgado was able to highlight inconsistencies between the Williams Rule witness' present-day testimony and her testimony almost twenty years ago, thereby undermining her credibility.” Rather than serve any prison time, Minton was able to secure a plea deal that meant he would plead to a misdemeanor, accept a year’s probation and avoid serving a single day in prison. As his attorneys wrote, Minton went "from facing the possibility of life in prison to walking out of the courtroom a free man in less than two full days of trial." You might be wondering why this matters today, more than three years after that trial. Jason Minton currently has felony warrants for his arrest on new charges of sexual battery and kidnapping in Ormond Beach. The victim in that case told Ormond Beach police that she met with Minton ostensibly for an interview for a secretarial job at a Tree Service business. She said the interview was at a bar, and she had some drinks with Minton. The next thing she remembers is waking up with painful injuries that suggest she was raped. Surveillance video from the bar showed Minton dragging the victim to his truck, pushing her inside and leaving. She appeared limp, unresponsive and unconscious. You can see it for yourself right here. You should also know that the Sheriff's Office is investigating a separate case in the Orange City area where a young woman reported she met with a man for an interview for a job at a tree service business. She said he met her at a bar and persistently ordered her alcohol. He then drove her to a secluded area, pulled her shirt down and touched her against her will, and offered her cash in exchange for sex. Fortunately, the victim in this case was not incapacitated, and she was able to resist, refuse and reject the suspect's advances. That case is still under investigation by our detectives, but I believe the suspect’s identity will be determined very soon. You have to wonder if Jason Minton's next plea deal will be featured on his defense attorney's website, too. He seems to be the poster boy for getting off light. We can all expect him to have the best defense attorneys money can buy. Until he’s behind bars where he belongs, I want to urge ANY woman who is approached or contacted by Jason Minton to stay as far away from him as you can. In the meantime, those of us who have a voice have to speak up for rape victims whose testimonies and personal lives are sure to be picked apart and placed under a microscope by defense attorneys working on their next big success story.

Posted by Mike Chitwood on Friday, February 21, 2020

Since the first incident was publicized, deputies said one of the six women who came forward said Minton offered to interview her for a job on Valentine’s Day before driving her to a secluded area that he said was one of the job sites, groping her and offering her money for sex.

“With how much money I am going to be giving you, you can’t tell me no, and I can do whatever I want,” the woman told deputies Minton said.

In that case, Minton gave a different name, but said he worked for a tree company and could interview her for a job.

That woman said she was able to refuse Minton’s offers and advances, and he eventually dropped her off in DeLand. Deputies said Minton is facing a felony battery charge in that case.

As for if there could be more women who come forward, Chitwood said, “I think we’ve just scratched the surface on this.”

“My call to any woman who he sexually assaulted and drugged is this is your opportunity to make sure he doesn’t see the light of day and does this to any other women in our community and that’s my plea. There’s strength in numbers here,” Chitwood said Monday.

Anyone with details or a case to report connected to Minton is asked to contact Volusia Sheriff’s Detective Justin Martir at jmartir@vcso.us or 386-316-5020.

Watch Channel 9 Eyewitness News NOW for live updates.

Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.