PHOENIX — A Valley man has been indicted on 30 felony counts after he was arrested last week for allegedly assaulting a 15-year-old girl in Tempe.
James C. Estep, 32, is facing several charges of kidnapping and sexual assault. The indictment obtained Friday by prosecutors accuses Estep of harming six victims in Mesa and Tempe since 2018.
This latest development comes after Estep had already been arrested previously for allegations similar to the ones made by a teenager last week in the East Valley.
Court documents show the most recent alleged victim was a 15-year-old girl who was offered a ride at a light rail stop near Main Street and Alma School Road.
The man, later identified as Estep, insisted and allegedly pressured the girl to get in. She reportedly got in the vehicle and the suspect drove her away.
At some point, the man took the victim's cell phone when she was about to call her sister, according to court documents.
Then, the suspect began to strangle her and told her to go to the back seat. As she started to fight him, the suspect allegedly punched her in the face and pulled her to the back seat after he jumped back, documents state.
Once the victim was in the back seat of the vehicle, he forcefully removed her pants and as she continued to fight him, he allegedly continued to strangle her until she was having difficulty breathing and was dizzy, documents show.
After allegedly forcing the victim to perform sex acts on him, as she pulled away, he finally let her go, documents say. The victim asked for help at a residence nearby and called the police.
Police got the suspect’s description as well as the description of his vehicle, which matched the one seen on video surveillance from the light rail stop obtained by the police.
Last Wednesday night, Tempe police showed up at Estep’s residence with a search warrant. His two roommates complied with authorities, but the suspect didn’t, barricading himself in his attic prior to his arrest, documents read.
Estep was taken to the hospital for a physical evaluation, then booked into Tempe jail being accused of one charge of kidnapping and one count of sexual assault.
Previous accusations
It had not been long since Estep was last in jail, accused of similar crimes.
On July 2, a victim reported to Mesa police that she was sexually assaulted and strangled by a man she met at a bar.
The victim, an adult female, went to the Estep’s apartment willingly and had sex with him. Court documents read that when the victim was leaving, he grabbed her by the neck causing her to struggle to breathe, throwing her onto his bed where he raped her several times.
DNA was collected from the victim at the time.
The victim reported the crime to the police and while being interviewed; another officer recognized similarities between the two cases being investigated.
On May 5, 2021, victim #2 reported she was approached by a man who offered her a ride. When she was taken to a location in Mesa, the man offered $100 for sex. She refused and was grabbed by the neck and sexually assaulted.
The DNA in the case matched the one collected from the victim in the July 2023 case.
There was a third victim in the case.
On April 16, 2023, victim #3 reported being sexually assaulted after being given a ride from the suspect. In this case, court documents show that the man took victim #3 to the parking lot of a church in Mesa where he allegedly forced her to the back of his vehicle, grabbed her by her neck and raped her.
Victim #3 was at some point able to get away and asked for help. A report was also filed in the case and DNA samples were also taken.
DNA samples in all three cases allegedly matched Estep and he was arrested on July 3, 2023, facing two counts of kidnapping and 13 counts of sexual assault.
A $300,000 cash only appearance bond was set.
'Dropped cases'
Mesa police told 12News that the department submitted two cases and they were dropped by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for "no likelihood of convection."
Mesa PD said that when they had a third case and an arrest was made, Estep was charged with the previous two cases.
"MCAP sent us a 'further' meaning they wanted further investigation on the cases," Mesa police said.
Online court records show a motion to dismiss the sexual assault case against Estep was filed last month.
County Attorney Rachel Mitchell was asked about Estep's case during a press conference on July 26 and said her office was working with law enforcement to get "everything lined up" before proceeding with prosecuting the case.
"We have to get this right. If we get it wrong, we can't go back and re-try this case. So we're gonna get it right," Mitchell said during the July press conference.
Mitchell, a veteran prosecutor in sex crimes cases, added that additional work needed to be done in the case.
On Friday, Mitchell released the following statement after announcing an indictment had been obtained against Estep:
“From the beginning, this case has been an extremely high priority for me. I look forward to holding this defendant accountable based on evidence gathered in the ongoing investigations conducted by Mesa and Tempe Police Departments," Mitchell stated.
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