Man extorted, raped escort

A man pretending to be a police investigator paid a female escort to have sex with him at a Guilderland hotel, then extorted thousands of dollars from her before he was caught, police said.

The man — Schoen M. LaBombard, 41, of 34 Park Ave. Apartments, Menands — was charged with several criminal counts, including kidnapping and rape.

The Albany County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release that LaBombard met the 33-year-old woman through an escort service.

LaBombard and the woman — whose name was not released — had sexual contact at the Guilderland hotel on Nov. 24. LaBombard allegedly paid the woman $250, then asked her to come back the next morning for lunch before he flew out of town, police said.

The next day, LaBombard allegedly told the woman he was an investigator with the sheriff’s department and displayed a personal identification card. He told the woman she was being watched, but he liked her and she could pay him $2,500, the cost of surveillance, to stay out of trouble, police said.

The woman accompanied him to a bank and cashed a $2,500 check. Once he had the cash, LaBombard brought the woman to a Colonie hotel, where he forced her to again have sex with him, police said. The woman reported that she thought she was in custody.

Police said LaBombard let the woman go, but instructed her to call him every few hours and told her the “feds” would need more money to prevent felony charges against her.

Several days later, the woman told her husband, who contacted the sheriff’s department, the news release says.

On Dec. 1, when LaBombard said he needed another $2,500 to prevent criminal charges against her and arranged to meet her in Schenectady, police were there and apprehended him, the news release says.

LaBombard was charged with second-degree kidnapping, second-degree grand larceny, first-degree criminal impersonation, second-degree coercion, and first-degree rape.

He was arraigned by Guilderland Town Justice John Bailey and sent to the Albany County Correctional Facility without bail.