State police have charged a Massachusetts man with impersonating an officer and kidnapping an exotic dancer.
Aerin Reardon, 21, a student at Westfield state University in Massachusetts, was arrested Sunday morning. He is a Resident Assistant at the school, according to his LinkedIn page.
According to police, Reardon answered a Craigslist post by the victim and her boyfriend, offering her services as an exotic dancer at parties. Reardon arrived at a residence on Main Street in Somers and forcibly forced the 31-year-old woman into his car, police said.
Reardon agreed to pay the woman $200 for an hour-long private dance, according to court documents. Instead, he claimed to be an undercover police officer, forced her into his car and told her she was under arrest for prostitution, police said.
The victim told police Reardon drove her to a parking lot of a fast food restaurant in Enfield and told forced her to have sex with him. He threatened to arrest her if she didn't cooperate, according to police.
The woman's boyfriend called 911 around 6 a.m. to report his girlfriend had been kidnapped.
While troopers were interviewing the boyfriend, Reardon returned to the residence in Somers with the woman. Police took Reardon into custody.
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The victim was taken to Johnson Memorial Hospital to be examined.
Reardon is charged with first-degree kidnapping, impersonating a police officer and fourth-degree sexual assault.
According to court documents, Reardon admitted to pretending to be a police officer and to kidnapping the woman, but said the sex was consensual.
"There's always more to the story and eventually, hopefully it will come out in a way that will show that it's not quite what it's perceived to be," said Richard Brown, Reardon's attorney.
Reardon is due back in court on October 18.
