'Escort massage therapist' pleads no contest to stalking UM professor - MLive.com

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Editor's note: A previous version of this story included an incorrect booking photo. The photo with the story now is confirmed to be the man charged in this case.

A 52-year-old University of Michigan professor was the target of an extortion plot by a man who says the professor was his "sugar daddy," according to public records recently obtained by The Ann Arbor News.

Mark Anthony MitchellCourtesy of WCSO

Mark Anthony Mitchell, 24, is accused of trying to extort more than $10,000 from the man, whom The Ann Arbor News is not naming, over a span of several weeks.

The News generally does not name victims in criminal cases.

Mitchell told police the two became romantically and sexually involved after the professor responded to Mitchell's Craiglist ad for a "massage escort". The professor told police there never was any sexual activity between the two, despite the fact he gave the young man around $6,000 to keep their relationship a secret, according to records.

Their conflicting tales are highlighted in an Ann Arbor Police Department report recently obtained by The News via a Freedom of Information Act Request. The case entered the criminal court system when Mitchell was arraigned Oct. 28 on one count of extortion, two counts of using a computer to commit a crime and stalking.

Mitchell resolved his case much quicker than most criminal defendants, taking a plea deal when he appeared at his probable cause hearing Thursday.

Mitchell pleaded no contest to one count of stalking and one count of using a computer to commit a crime, records show.

The alleged blackmail plot was brought to the authorities on Oct. 23, when the professor contacted Ann Arbor police. Two days later, the professor drafted a lengthy, detailed account of what went on between the two men starting on Sept. 12 to Oct. 22, a time when the professor repeatedly wired the young man thousands of dollars in hush money.

The professor claims he first contacted Mitchell online about getting a massage during a planned trip to Lansing that never panned out.

Mitchell and the professor had "some friendly exchanges" over the next few days, according to the professor's statement, though no massage appointment took place. Mitchell told the 52-year-old it was his birthday, but that he didn't have any money to celebrate.

"I felt sorry for him, so I offered to send him some money," the professor wrote.

The two men continued to talk in a "friendly manner" and the professor continued to voluntarily send Mitchell money, according to the professor's statement.

The two men met face-to-face for the first time at an Ann Arbor motel soon afterward, the police report indicates.

On Sept. 23, Mitchell told the professor he was coming to Ann Arbor with his massage table and massage lotions to rent a room, where he would be seeing other clients, according to the professor's statement to police.

But the professor ended up booking the room at the Red Roof Inn on South State Street because Mitchell didn't have enough money, the professor wrote in his statement.

This is when the only sexual encounter occurred between the two men, the professor contends.

Mitchell eventually began "sensually" rubbing the professor, including making contact with his genitals, according to the statement.

"...I told him I was not interested in a sexual encounter," the professor wrote.

The professor said he no longer felt comfortable, paid Mitchell and left, according to the police report.

But, over the weeks, Mitchell started calling and texting the professor dozens of times a day, demanding more and more money, the report says. .

Mitchell even sent the professor screenshot of his faculty profile page from the University of Michigan, indicating he knew where he worked, according to the report. Mitchell allegedly also told the professor that he had information about where he lived and his family, the professor's statement said. The 24-year-old began talking about ruining the professor's career.

The professor told police that Mitchell demanded $10,000 total. In an interview with detectives, Mitchell said he charged the professor for all the time he couldn't work because the professor either didn't want him to be working or because he wanted to be with him, according to the report.

The 24-year-old maintained he wasn't threatening the professor, but just wanted his money, the report said.

"I'm not threatening u just want whts owed I can send the info from when you bought sex as well lets be civil," Mitchell texted at point.

"I never bought sex," the professor texted Mitchell back, after he'd already gone to the police. "U claimed to be a certified massage therapist. Let's not argue. The police also said they have info on ur boyfriend. I will make sure they give me the file once this is over."

At the end of October, the professor then went to police with the lengthy statement detailing the blackmail case.

The professor denied having a sexual relationship with the 24-year-old when asked by police.

Mitchell was quickly taken into custody and brought in for questioning. His version of the relationship between himself and the professor was much different.

Mitchell said he met the professor when he was advertising his services as an "escort massage therapist," he said.

"(The professor) told him not to work and that he would give him money and that they were in a relationship," Ann Arbor police Detective William Stanford wrote in the report. "(The professor) agreed to pay him back for the time he was in a relationship with him and did not work a total of 12 grand and he owed him still approximately $1,000."

Mitchell said he'd gotten paid about $6,000 in the last four months.

"Mitchell stated that ... (the professor) wanted to pay him back this money but was not paying (Mitchell) back quick enough ..." Stanford wrote in the report.

Mitchell told police that the professor never paid for sex, that they were in a relationship.

"(Mitchell) expected (the professor) to take care of him," Stanford wrote.

"We were in a relationship," Mitchell said at one point during the police questioning. "We were in a sex relationship."

Mitchell told police he didn't mean to threaten the professor and wasn't really going to ruin his career, but just wanted to get the money he was owed.

"He admitted (the professor) was his sugar daddy," Stanford wrote in the report.

Mitchell is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 18.

He remains free on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.

The professor is still employed with the university, according to spokesman Rick Fitzgerald.

John Counts covers crime and breaking news for The Ann Arbor News. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on Twitter. Find all Washtenaw County crime stories here.

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