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UPDATE: Felon sentenced to 14 years for impersonating cop

Julian Tarver is led out of court in December after he pleaded guilty to 10 felonies and five misdemeanors in King County Court.

A 26-year-old felon was sentenced today to 14 1/2 years in prison for impersonating a police officer to extort sex from a woman and two 15-year-old girls after responding to their online ads for prostitution and escort services.

Julian Tarver pleaded guilty in December to 10 felonies and five misdemeanors. He has previously served nearly five years in prison for a number of crimes, including first-degree arson, threats to bomb and attempted possession of child pornography.

According to court documents, Tarver found each of his victims online and invited them to his apartment, where he would flash a badge, whip out handcuffs and “arrest” the victim. He allowed two 19-year-old women to leave without having sex with them, though he made one of the women strip in front of him and stole $600 cash, her identification and a pawn slip.

Three other victims — the two juveniles and a 23-year-old woman — were raped by Tarver, who at different times claimed to be a police officer, a U.S. Marshal and an agent with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

He paid one of the 15-year-olds $200 for sex, then took the money back, telling her the bills were marked, court documents say. He slammed the girl into a wall when she tried to leave, showed her a gun and a Taser, and forced her to have sex with him a second time, the documents say.

Tarver was arrested after employees with one victim’s escort agency contacted Seattle police when Tarver tried to arrange a date with another escort, charging papers say. The police investigation led detectives to the other victims; one of the juveniles was identified from photos found on Tarver’s computer, court records show.

According to charging documents, Tarver found both of the juvenile victims through ads posted on backpage.com, the online advertising site owned by Village Voice Media, the parent company of Seattle Weekly and a dozen other weekly alternative newspapers across the country.

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The Today File is a general news blog featuring real-time coverage of Seattle and the Northwest. It is reported by the news staff of The Seattle Times and edited by Assistant Metro Editor Nick Provenza. This blog uses Facebook’s commenting tool. More details on the blog and commenting system. Please send feedback about this blog to webmaster@seattletimes.com, and direct news tips to newstips@seattletimes.com.

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