He Kept Reeling the Girls In, Even as Police Got Closer

Part 3 of the Cincinnati Enquirer's series on Cody Jackson
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 24, 2018 2:04 PM CDT
He Kept Reeling the Girls In, Even as Police Got Closer
This undated file photo provided by the Salt Lake County Jail in Salt Lake City shows Cody Lee Jackson.   (Salt Lake County Jail via AP, File)

Kevin Grasha and Cameron Knight of the Cincinnati Enquirer are out with part three of their four-part story on Cody Jackson, a young Wisconsin drop-out with no job and essentially a single skill: "luring fragile young women," in two cases impregnating teens and in others holding them against their will through an extreme and manipulative set of rules—all seemingly without any legal consequences. Part two closed with two of those women finally fleeing an Ohio hotel room and calling 911. Jackson fled the state and returned to Wisconsin, where he met up with a girl from his hometown named Jade. She was just 15. He took her to Florida, and imposed even more extreme rules upon her: She wasn't, for instance, permitted to look out the car window on the drive.

He also actively tried to impregnate her, making her lie still for 10 minutes after sex with her knees in the air. He wanted her to allow him to cut the birth-control implant she had in her arm out, saying "if I let him have a family, we could be happy ever after." Jackson was told police were looking for him in connection with Jade; she was put on a bus back to Wisconsin, and he moved on to a 16-year-old South Carolina girl. The pattern repeated itself, although this time, police managed to catch up with him and arrested the 19-year-old on kidnapping and abduction charges. With his father's aid, he posted a $100,000 bond. Then comes the ominous last line of part three: "Within weeks, he met a 14-year-old from Mason." Catch up with parts one and two here. (More Longform stories.)

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