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UTAH COUNTY—A man says he was trying to help a family in need when he ended up getting caught in a trap by extortionists.
The victim says he met a woman in tears in Utah County asking for help. She said she couldn't pay her rent, her car broke down and she had small children at home. The man told KSL he felt sorry for woman, Casey Rutter, so he offered her a job with his business where she could work from home online.
"It was a trap. I fell for a trap and they wanted more and more money," said the victim.
The victim says he became suspicious of Rutter, but at the same time didn't want to not help in case her young family really was in trouble.
The victim who is in his 70s but asked we not use his name says over the next few weeks he gave Rutter around $3,000 to help her get back on her feet, believing she could eventually pay the money back. This even included bailing her out of jail after a shoplifting charge.
The victim says he became suspicious of Rutter, but at the same time didn't want to not help in case her young family really was in trouble. He finally learned what really was going on when he went to install a computer at her apartment so she could work.
"She kind of came onto him and pulled him down onto a couch and was hugging and kissing him," said Orem police Sgt. Craig Martinez. "As he turned around when this was all happening, he noticed a man coming from around the corner and he was videotaping this."
Police identified the man filming the kiss as Mathew Richmond. Within a short time after the victim left the apartment he started getting text messages demanding up to $7,000 in cash or they would release the tape to his wife and the press.
Instead, the victim went straight to the police station where officers set up a sting. They had the suspects show up to a grocery store parking lot where the victim handed them an envelope with money. The two were arrested before they could leave the parking lot.
Martinez says both Rutter and Richmond were booked into jail on April 18 under suspicion of 2nd degree felony extortion.
The victim says he doesn't know if anything Rutter told him was true. He‘s not even sure if she has children. He's embarrassed by what happened, but was willing to share his story with KSL in hopes that it won't happen to anyone else.
