He is a high school dropout and truck driver who called more than two-dozen female workers at local businesses, identifying himself as a police officer and eliciting from them intimate details about their bodies and grooming habits.
From July 2006 to March, Mark Dean Jones pretended to be "Officer Kevin Hill" of the Louisville Metro Police Department, investigating hidden cameras placed in business restrooms, tanning beds and elsewhere that he claimed were being used to post naked pictures on the Internet.
Today, Jones, 41, pleaded guilty in Jefferson Circuit Court to 28 charges of impersonating a police officer and 27 counts of harassment, accepting a 10-year prison sentence.
Prosecutors recommended that Jones be given probation, but he will be formally sentenced on Dec. 13.
Jefferson Circuit Judge McKay Chauvin today appeared unsure what to do with Jones, describing him as an unpredictable wildcard whose crimes were "an off-the-charts thing to do."
Jones told Chauvin he was guilty, but said little else during today's hearing. His attorney, Mike Bufkin, declined to comment, pending the sentencing hearing."He was able to get women to reveal intimate details about themselves through nothing more than a commanding voice and phone call," McLaughlin said.
Some victims told police Jones was able to describe to them intimate details about their own bodies, such as grooming habits and tattoos normally hidden by clothing.
One woman told police that after she described herself to Jones, he said "well maybe I'll ask you out, you have a pretty nice looking body," according to court records.
McLaughlin said investigators have not figured out how Jones knew such personal details about the women, as well as the layout of the businesses he called. McLaughlin said there was no evidence he knew the women personally or had been to the businesses during his travels as a truck driver.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Arthur McLaughlin said the case has similarities to a recent hoax case in Bullitt County, in which former McDonald's worker Louise Ogborn was awarded $6.1 million -- including $5 million in punitive damages -- in her strip-search lawsuit against the restaurant company.
Ogborn, who worked as a $6.35-an-hour crew member at McDonald's Mount Washington store, was detained, stripped and sexually assaulted on April 9, 2004, at the behest of a caller who pretended he was a police officer and accused her of stealing a customer's purse.
None of the women in Jones' case were assaulted, but in many instances, Jones tricked the women into describing their bodies in intimate detail by telling them he had nude videos of them that had been posted on the Internet, according to court records.
Jones asked employees about their height, weight and breast size and often became obscene, according to police reports. Jones called tanning businesses, hotels, salons, apartment complexes and even a tax business.Some of the victims were wary of Jones and either hung up or called the police after talking to him. Jones often told employees he called that he would arrive at their business within an hour, but he never showed up, according to court records.
Unlike the Bullitt County hoax caller, who is believed to have used a phone card on a pay phone, Jones made many of his calls from his home telephone, where police were able to trace them.
McLaughlin said investigators suspect there are dozens of victims who have not yet come forward. Many who talked with police and prosecutors were wary that they were again dealing with impersonators, McLaughlin said, often calling the police department or Commonwealth's Attorney's Office to verify the call.
"Their trust of authority has forever been damaged," McLaughlin said.