JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In the early morning hours of April 13, 2000, a Jacksonville woman was approached by a man while she was loading her car in the parking lot of her apartment complex.
The man asked her what time it was.
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“A little after midnight,” she replied.
But something felt off, and she quickly realized that a heinous intention hid behind that simple question.
Right after she responded, the man threatened to kill her, pushed her to the ground and raped her.
After the man walked away, the woman ran to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to report what she said happened — hoping to get justice.
Twenty-five years later, justice not just for her, but for at least two more Jacksonville women, may have finally arrived.
On Monday, police announced the arrest of 52-year-old Jason Leonard Blunt, who they think was responsible for several rapes in Jacksonville in the early 2000s.
News4JAX obtained two of Blount’s arrest reports, which detail the victims’ accounts of the horrific incidents and how investigators say DNA evidence was able to link him to four sexual battery cases in Duval County.
‘A dangerous predator’
In the first reported incident, the victim said Blount told her he wanted her to come with him and that he was going to “f***” her and then “kill” her.
The report also states he rubbed her intimate parts outside her clothing with a knife before leading her to the tennis courts at the apartment complex. As they were walking toward the tennis courts, Blount told the victim to “shut up or he would kill her.”
When they got to the tennis courts, he pushed her to the ground, pulled her shirt up and began to touch and kiss her body, police said.
According to the report, Blount ultimately forced her to “perform oral sex on him.”
He then escorted her back to her car and walked away.
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The second arrest report obtained by News4JAX details another woman’s horrifying experience that happened inside her apartment on Sept. 4, 2002.
The woman told police that around 9:15 p.m., she went to a gas station across the street from her apartment. When she returned about 15 minutes later and shut the door, Blount entered.
Just like with the first incident, Blount asked a question.
Blount asked the woman if he could use her phone. She replied: “Why didn’t you knock?”
The woman told police the man then grabbed her from behind and put his hand over her mouth. She tried to scream for help, but he told her if she did, he “would make it a lot worse.”
According to police, the man then pulled down her clothes and raped her.
As soon as he left her apartment, the woman reported it to the police.
More than 20 years passed with no arrests made in the cases — until now.
More than two decades after the first crime, the “dangerous predator” is being brought to justice, JSO said in a news release.
That justice may now be possible thanks to Blount’s arrest in connection with a robbery in Central Florida.
It’s a match
Soon after Blount was arrested and charged with robbery in Orlando, his DNA was processed and came out as a match in the cases.
On June 10, police received notice from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement stating there was a DNA match linking Blount to four sexual battery cases in Jacksonville.
Blount is now charged with three counts of sexual battery. Detectives also identified an elderly woman who is now deceased as an additional victim.
According to JSO, Blount’s M.O. was to ambush women outside their homes. Police said one of the women was jogging when she was attacked.
“Our hearts go out to the women Blount brutally victimized. We will work with the State Attorney’s Office to bring him the harshest punishment possible and make sure he doesn’t do this again,” JSO said.
JSO believes there were more victims in Jacksonville or Orlando. If you have any information about this case, call 904-630-0500.