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MESA, Ariz. - Court documents show a Mesa man has been arrested in connection with sexual assault incidents involving various women in recent years.
Investigators say the suspect, identified as 32-year-old James C. Estep, was arrested on July 3.
An investigation that ultimately led to Estep's arrest began on July 2, according to court documents, when a woman reported a sexual assault incident to Mesa Police.
"[The alleged victim] stated she met the defendant as she was leaving a bar in Tempe," read a portion of the documents. "[The alleged victim] and defendant conversed with each other at several bars before agreeing to go to the defendant's house together."
Investigators state once the alleged victim was at Estep's home, the alleged victim and Estep had consensual sexual contact at first, but eventually, the alleged victim felt uncomfortable.
When the alleged victim tried to leave, Estap, according to investigators, placed his arm around the alleged victim's neck, causing her to struggle to breathe.
"The defendant restrained [the alleged victim] back to the bed and got on top of her," read a portion of the court documents. "[The alleged victim] told the defendant ‘no’ and ‘stop’ multiple times."
Court documents provided graphic details on what happened, but according to investigators, multiple sexual acts were performed on the alleged victim after the alleged victim told Estep to stop.
Suspect allegedly linked to other sexual assault incidents
James Estep
Investigators say during their investigation, they noticed similarities between the incident that was reported on July 2 and two other incidents.
The first incident, according to court documents, was reported in May 2021, when the alleged victim in the incident, identified in court documents as ‘Victim #2,’ said she was approached by a man who offered her a ride. The man drove Victim #2 to a location in Mesa, where he allegedly offered her $100 for sex. After Victim #2 refused, the man allegedly grabbed her by the neck and performed a sexual act on her.
The second incident was reported in April 16, 2023. According to investigator, the alleged victim in this incident, identified in court documents as ‘Victim #3,' received a ride from the defendant, who drove her to a church. At the church, Estep allegedly told Victim #3 to perform a sexual act on him, and when she refused, the suspect allegedly told Victim 3 "you're gonna do it, and you're gonna like it." Later, investigators said the suspect took Victim #3 back to the car, where he allegedly hit her with a closed fist, and put her in a chokehold. The suspect eventually performed a sexual act on Victim #3, who was later able to escape.
DNA evidence collected from the 2021 incident and the April 2023 incident matched the DNA collected from Estep, according to court documents.
During an interview that was done after Estep was read his Miranda rights, Estep told investigators that he had no memory of what happened on April 16, 2023. Estep eventually asked for a lawyer.
According to court documents, Estep has a history of prior arrests, but details of those arrests were redacted from court documents we obtained. Meanwhile, a judge has set a cash-only $300,000 bond for Estep.