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Two plead innocent to charges of keeping sex slave
Seattle P-I ^ | September 12, 2002 | AP

Posted on 09/12/2002 9:23:21 AM PDT by ValerieUSA

Thursday, September 12, 2002

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Two men have pleaded innocent to charges they kept a transient as a sex slave in their middle-class home.

Trial was set for Oct. 28 for Michael Aaron Wilson, 45, and William Joseph Fritsch, 22, both of Brush Prairie, who appeared Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court to face charges of rape, kidnapping and assault. Defense lawyers Gerry Wear and Tom Phelan said they would request separate trials.

Prosecutors say the two met a 47-year-old Seattle transient online, offered him a bus ticket to Vancouver, then imprisoned and raped him repeatedly for eight days.

The man ran to a neighbor's house for help Thursday evening with his legs and hands shackled.

Wilson, who maintains a Web site for devotees of sadomasochistic sex, claims the sex was consensual, his lawyer said.

On the Web site, Wilson said he specializes in bondage, "intense medical scenes," torture and prison punishments.

Wear expressed concern about pretrial publicity, and Judge John Wulle sealed search documents detailing the basis for a search of the men's home and listing what was found.

A hearing on whether the warrant should remain sealed was set for 8:30 a.m. Friday. Prosecutors had expressed concern that the man whose complaint led to the charges -- the Seattle transient -- might leave the area.

On Wednesday, however, Deputy Prosecutor Tom Duffy said the man has secured housing through social service organizations. "He has assured me he intends to cooperate," Duffy said.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: homosexual; internet; perversion
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Wilson, 45 and Fritsch, 22.
1 posted on 09/12/2002 9:23:21 AM PDT by ValerieUSA
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To: ValerieUSA
This must have occurred in a parallel universe somewhere. Real people don't act like this.
2 posted on 09/12/2002 9:25:18 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Did they search under the house and garden too?
3 posted on 09/12/2002 9:27:12 AM PDT by Ciexyz
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Did you notice how careful they are to NOT use the words "homosexual" or "gay" in this report so it won't show up in word searches for crimes committed by queers?
4 posted on 09/12/2002 9:30:19 AM PDT by ValerieUSA
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To: Ciexyz
Did they search under the house and garden too?

No, because they are afraid they might find something.

5 posted on 09/12/2002 9:32:52 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: ValerieUSA
Did you notice how careful they are to NOT use the words "homosexual" or "gay" in this report so it won't show up in word searches for crimes committed by queers?

Good point. This is just like the crime stories where race is not mentioned. You know the perp was black and the victim white. When it is vice-versa it is front page news, like "Man Bites Dog."

6 posted on 09/12/2002 9:34:14 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: ValerieUSA
ZED: Bring out The Gimp.
MAYNARD: I think The Gimp's sleepin'.
ZED: Well, I guess you'll just have to go wake him up now, won't you?
7 posted on 09/12/2002 9:41:29 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
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To: ValerieUSA
Wilson said he specializes in bondage, "intense medical scenes,"

That phrase alone should be enough to bring in the back hoes and start digging. Sheesh. fsf

8 posted on 09/12/2002 9:47:06 AM PDT by Free State Four
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To: ValerieUSA
Did you notice that the "homeless" man met the perps ON- LINE? Bet you didn't know Seattle provides e-mail to vagrants,it's a RIGHT according to the socialist city & King County governments. Come on out scum of the world, you're welcome in San Francisco North.
9 posted on 09/12/2002 9:49:02 AM PDT by bigfootbob
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To: bigfootbob
Librarians don't want "censorship" against porn sites on public internet access computers.
10 posted on 09/12/2002 9:50:33 AM PDT by ValerieUSA
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To: ValerieUSA
True. My county has been dealing with that issue for several years. Don't forget the ACLU complicity.
11 posted on 09/12/2002 9:55:35 AM PDT by bigfootbob
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To: ValerieUSA
The man ran to a neighbor's house for help Thursday evening with his legs and hands shackled.

Ummmm, how does a person who has their legs shackled RUN? Wouldn't it be more of a hop? Perhaps the author should have said "The man fled to....."

12 posted on 09/12/2002 10:06:36 AM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: ValerieUSA
These two guys will be convicted for two reasons. They probably did it, and even if they didn't. The courts in this county are so corrupt, they wouldn't stand a chance even if they were innocent; especially with the two lawyers they have representing them.
13 posted on 09/12/2002 10:09:48 AM PDT by connectthedots
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To: ValerieUSA
I have to be at the courthouse tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. I'll go early to attend this hearing and report back later.
14 posted on 09/12/2002 10:14:48 AM PDT by connectthedots
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To: ValerieUSA
All I can say is, ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!~
15 posted on 09/12/2002 3:17:34 PM PDT by UCANSEE2
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To: connectthedots
I wonder what their occupations are? They must have jobs somewhere to afford a middle class home.. do you think the website could generate enough money to pay the bills?
16 posted on 09/12/2002 3:19:55 PM PDT by ValerieUSA
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To: ValerieUSA
I wonder what their occupations are? They must have jobs somewhere to afford a middle class home.. do you think the website could generate enough money to pay the bills?

I'll check the web site of the local rag and see what I can find.

17 posted on 09/12/2002 3:34:58 PM PDT by connectthedots
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To: ValerieUSA

SEX-SLAVE SUSPECTS ENTER PLEAS OF NOT GUILTY

Thursday, September 12, 2002

By STEPHANIE THOMSON and JOHN BRANTON, Columbian staff writers

Michael Aaron Wilson and William Joseph Fritsch pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges they kept another man as their "sex slave" for eight days in their home near Prairie High School.

Wilson, 45, and Fritsch, 22, are charged with rape, kidnapping and assault. If convicted, they face several years in prison.

Trial was set for Oct. 28, but defense attorneys Gerry Wear and Tom Phelan will ask that the men be tried separately.

Responding to Wear's concerns about pre-trial publicity, Superior Court Judge John Wulle sealed the search warrant ---- which details the basis for the search and catalogues incriminating items found in the home ---- for 48 hours.

He set a hearing for 8:30 a.m. Friday to hear arguments on whether the warrant should stay sealed.

Wear and Phelan had not seen the warrant and said they may not bother to argue to keep it sealed. A warrant is a public record, and Wulle indicated it may be a tough sell to convince him to keep it under wraps.

"It is the policy of this court that this is a public process," Wulle said.

The initial purpose of Wednesday's hearing was to put the victim, a Seattle transient, under a court order to keep in contact with prosecutors and not to leave the area. He met Wilson and Fritsch online and accepted a bus ticket to come stay with them.

But senior deputy prosecutor Tom Duffy said the 47-year-old man has secured housing through social service organizations.

"He has assured me he intends to cooperate," Duffy said.

Phelan, who represents Fritsch, asked Wulle about reducing the $250,000 bail to something in the $50,000 to $75,000 range.

He said Fritsch's family in Philadelphia would like to bail him out.

But Wulle said he won't consider it until he receives more information about the defendants' backgrounds, including their ties to the area.

Duffy said Wilson, who's believed to be an electronics consultant, at one time made a six-figure salary.

Wulle ordered financial screenings for both men.

He also promised Wilson he'd check with Sheriff Garry Lucas to see why Wilson was not getting the medication he says he needs from jail staff.

Wilson said he takes medication daily for his blood pressure, prostate and for a "memory problem." He also needs a breathing machine to treat apnea.

Wilson was well-spoken when he addressed Wulle but spent most of the hearing sitting in a jury box with his arms folded. Fritsch, his slender co-defendant half his age, sat behind him and occasionally bit his nails.

Detective Sgt. Dave Trimble said Wednesday that no new victims have surfaced and that an expert started late Tuesday delving into the suspects' two computers.

Trimble confirmed that Wilson maintained a Web site that solicited devotees of sadomasochistic sex. The site showed pictures of Wilson in a firefighter suit, and Trimble said detectives did find firefighter gear in the home, but it had no identifying markers.

On the Web site, Wilson said he specializes in bondage, "intense medical scenes," torture and prison punishments, and he prefers "fit, or slim and smooth guys who like their kink original, unique and often very painful."

He described himself as a top and said he had "one full-time 'boy' in training to be a top."

Wilson told detectives that the interaction with the victim was merely "consensual sexual role-playing," and Wear said that will be what he argues at trial.



18 posted on 09/12/2002 3:42:09 PM PDT by connectthedots
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To: ValerieUSA
One of the perps...


19 posted on 09/12/2002 3:49:21 PM PDT by steveo
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To: ValerieUSA
From earlier this week:

DETECTIVES SEIZE TWO COMPUTERS IN SEX CASE

Tuesday, September 10, 2002

By JOHN BRANTONand STEPHANIE THOMSON, Columbian staff writers

BRUSH PRAIRIE -- Sheriff's detectives have seized two computers belonging to men who are charged with holding another man as their "sex slave" in their Brush Prairie home.

Michael Aaron Wilson, 45, and William Joseph Fritsch, 22, were arrested after a 47-year-old man, his wrist and ankles shackled, ran to neighbors Thursday evening. The man said he had just escaped from the defendants' home at 12220 N.E. 103rd Ave., near Prairie High School.

The alleged victim said he had been raped and beaten for eight days in a torture chamber. When detectives investigated, they found a large upstairs room equipped with electronic hospital equipment, two operating tables, video cameras, whips, restraints and sexual devices.

The victim was treated at a hospital for bruises and released.

Prosecutors on Monday charged Wilson and Fritsch with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape and second-degree assault. The defendants are being held in the Clark County Jail with bail set at $250,000 each.

They have told detectives their behavior with the victim was merely "consensual sexual role playing."

After the arrest made nationwide headlines on Friday, a reader referred The Columbian to a Web site that appears to be maintained by Wilson. The site contains photographs of a man closely resembling Wilson. One shows him using a medical syringe to draw drugs from a bottle. Another shows him dressed as a firefighter. The site says the operator is based in Vancouver.

The Web site operator says he specializes in bondage, flogging, military interrogation, "intense medical scenes," torture and prison punishments. He describes himself as a "master who knows his way around a submissive's mind as well as his body."

"I prefer fit, or slim and smooth guys who like their kink original, unique and often very painful," the site operator says.

He adds: "I have one full-time 'boy' in training to become a top. I am seeking others, full-time, part-time."

On Monday, Detective Sgt. Dave Trimble said he's seeking experts to see what the suspects' computer hard drives contain, which could take a few weeks. So far, Trimble said, no additional victims have come forward.

A neighbor told detectives that UPS and Fed-Ex visited the suspects' home every day. Detectives have found no evidence that the suspects were conducting a for-profit sex business. Wilson is believed to be an electronics consultant and Fritsch is unemployed, detectives said.

Senior deputy prosecutor Tom Duffy said a potential problem with the case is that the alleged victim is a homeless man from Seattle who might disappear before a trial.

As a result, a hearing has been set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, before Superior Court Judge John Wulle, to discuss what can be done to ensure the victim will cooperate with prosecutors.

Possibilities include ordering the victim to give a deposition and stay in contact with prosecutors or risk having a warrant issued for his arrest.

Clark County Sheriff Garry Lucas said Friday that Wilson was convicted in 1998 of possessing child pornography in Denver.

A story in The Deseret News of Salt Lake City said Wilson, then a Colorado resident using another name, was sentenced to three years in prison. He allegedly operated an Internet site called "Boy Torture Channel," which showed young males being sexually abused and tortured.

In 1999, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the conviction because insufficient evidence was introduced in the trial.


20 posted on 09/12/2002 3:58:00 PM PDT by connectthedots
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