Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey reports on Prince William County police using a decoy to cat ch a suspect in a series of motel sex assaults.
The man suspected of sexually assaulting a woman and two teens as they slept in a Prince William County hotel was arrested after investigators placed a decoy in one of the hotel's rooms.
Brandon Charles Murdock, 31, of Front Royal was charged with burglary and attempted aggravated sexual assault, Prince William County police said Monday.
Murdock was arrested Oct. 6 after investigators set up an operation at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Manassas. On the first night of the operation, Murdock entered a room that had been reserved by police and set up to match the circumstances of the assaults, police said. Murdock approached a bed where a decoy was in place, police said.
"We were preparing for the long haul, but thankfully we were able to get him in custody kind of quickly," said Jonathan Perok of Prince William County Police.
During their investigation, police connected Murdock to three sexual assaults that happened nearly a year apart.
On Oct. 6, 2015, two girls, ages 15 and 16, told police that a man entered their rooms and touched them while they were sleeping. Both victims are from Seoul, Korea and were in the area for a school-related trip.
Police searched the hotel, but there was no sign of the suspect.
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Nearly a year later, a 63-year-old woman visiting the area from overseas told police she was sleeping in her hotel room when a man entered her room and touched her inappropriately. The suspect ran from the room when the woman screamed.
No signs of forced entry were found in any of the rooms.
"We knew if we didn't so something to try to track this person down, going to continue to have victims," Perok said.
Additional charges are pending against Murdock, according to police. Murdock is being held without bond.
A relative of Murdock told Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey the family "knows nothing and is in pieces over this."
