Sexual assault in Seagrove

Jason Reed, who faces charges in two sexual assaults in Seagrove Beach, matches the description of a suspect in five other incidents in the same area over the last two years, according to court records.
The reported incidents involved a white man matching Reed’s description who exposed himself to women and asked for sex at Seagrove Beach town homes and hotels, according to the records.
In some of the reports, women stated that the suspect entered their home or hotel room and stood naked watching them sleep.
No charges appear to have been filed in the other incidents, but investigators cited them in requests for search warrants in Reed’s case.
The lead investigator for the Walton County Sheriff’s Office could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
“We are not able to speculate where other crimes may have occurred or the number of victims,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Mike Morrison said. “The case is considered active and ongoing.”
Reed pleaded not guilty last week to charges in the two Seagrove Beach sexual assaults, which occurred almost a year apart.
On the night of Aug. 30, 2010, a man entered a room at the Seagrove Villa Motel on County Road 30A and sexually assaulted and masturbated on a 51-year-old woman from Louisiana.
Less than a mile away on July 19, 2011, about 1 a.m., a man entered through the unlocked sliding glass door of a town home and raped a woman who lived there and was asleep on the couch, according to arrest reports.
A few hours before the rape, a witness reported to the Sheriff’s Office that they had seen a nude man walking in the parking lot of the town homes, according to the court records.
Two days later, on July 21, a woman reported seeing a nude man walking in the courtyard of a town home complex about a quarter mile away, according to court records.
After the incident in July, Morrison said that the two assaults were unrelated. But after Reed’s arrest Aug. 25 he stated that during the investigation it was determined that the crimes were linked.
A Walton County investigator met with Panama City Beach police officers Aug. 16 and determined that the nature of the crimes and the suspect in the July rape was similar to a suspect wanted in more than 40 sexual offenses over 10 years in Panama City Beach, according to court records.
The incidents in Seagrove Beach and Panama City Beach all occurred within 17 miles of one another, according to court records.
Reed has prior convictions of exposing himself in Bay County and Valparaiso, according to court documents.
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison on both sexual assault charges.

The question still lingers, when did the local authorities have knowledge of the suspicious incidents reported PRIOR to the murder? I would think as soon as the incidents were reported, right? Why was a composite sketch not made or released of a suspect if women reported suspicious incidents, like exposure? As I have heard, there were several suspicious incidents reported prior to July 19th. I can appreciate not wanting to scare away the tourists... No, I can't. Crimes need to be disiminated to the locals, regardless of what the possible impact may have on tourism. We live here, they just visit.