48-year-old James William Eaton of West Monroe is in jail after posing online as a woman and luring another man to drive from California to Ouachita Parish thinking he was marrying that woman. Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Glen Springfield says the victim claims to have sent Eaton a total of $1000.
“The victim went on to tell us that he had sent some money through online services to this person he had been talking to, thinking it was ‘Rose’ to get through some family emergency and some other gifts too,” said Springfield.
Springfield says investigators found a box that had been mailed to Eaton’s alter ego “Rose Williams” from the victim.
“The victim was able to identify some of the items that had been mailed to the person posing as ‘Rose Williams’ as what he had mailed and could furnish the information. Later on, the suspect did admit that the items that the victim said he sent were in the box,” said Springfield.
Springfield believes Eaton thought he’d never end up actually meeting the victim and says this case is another reminder to be careful of who you interact with online.
“Don’t be getting into intimate conversations, don’t be sending them items and so forth, because you really don’t know who you are talking to, but inevitably, some people still do it and this particular case, the guy came and discovered it was a scam,” said Springfield.
No word on how long the relationship had been going on.
