A 22-year-old girl was beaten and sexually assaulted while jogging on a Florida trail Monday night — just weeks after another Tennessee woman, Eliza Fletcher, was kidnapped and killed by a stranger while out jogging. The young woman was jogging around 8:40 p.m. Monday night when 19-year-old William Paul Stamper allegedly approached her from behind and knocked her to the ground, police said.
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“He moved his body in a sexual motion. The victim stated that he was aroused,” said the sheriff, Dennis Lema. After Stamper threw the woman to the ground, she screamed, “Who are you? Get off me!” , according to the arrest report. Stamper coldly told her to “shut your damn mouth” in response, the report states. A man nearby heard the two struggling, and the victim told him to call 911, police said. “They were screaming, and I said are you okay? Are you okay? And she said no, please call 911,” the bystander said.
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Stamper fled before he was later taken into custody overnight on Tuesday. He was identified as a suspect in the case after police obtained surveillance footage of him from a 911 operator. “It records the guy following the woman and then dragging her away,” the operator told authorities. At one point, he was seen in the footage wearing a hat that led the police to Stamper’s employers who recognized him. He was charged with sexual assault and imprisoned at the John E. Correctional Facility. Folk. He is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 25, jail records show.