Jason Vukovich

Jason Christian Vukovich (born June 25, 1975) is an Alaskan who targeted three pedophiles from the National Sex Offender List in June 2016 to beat and rob them. He is known as the "Alaskan Avenger" for targeting sex offenders by becoming a pedophile hunter.

Early life 
Vukovich was born in Anchorage, Alaska, to a single mother who later married Larry Lee Fulton. He got adopted at four, but instead of being his guardian, Fulton became Vukovich's and his brother Joel's abuser. Vukovich was sexually abused and beaten with pieces of wood and whipped with belts by his stepfather.

In 1989, Fulton was charged with second-degree abuse and molestation of a minor and got convicted. However, he only received a three-year suspended sentence from Superior Court Judge Karl Johnstone. After serving his sentence, Fulton was allowed to return home, where he continued to abuse Vukovich and his brother. No one came to check on the family, and at 16, Vukovich and his brother ran away.

Vukovich, still underage, moved to Washington state with no identification or financial recourse. To survive, he turned to thievery and became well known to local police. Vukovich had criminal records from Washington to Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and California.

Around 2008, he moved back to Alaska, where he racked up several criminal charges against him, which included theft, possession of a controlled substance, and the assault of his then-wife, which he denied.

Hit list 
In 2016, the untreated childhood trauma reached Vukovich a boiling point. He decided to get his own justice and began to read through the sex offender registry of Alaska. He sought three men who were sex offenders related to children. He listed the names and addresses he found on the public index in his notebook. Vukovich then targeted the homes of Charles Albee, Andres Barbosa, and Wesley Demarest.

Charles Albee 
On June 25, 2016, Vukovich knocked on Albee’s door, convicted in 2003 of second-degree abuse of a minor, first thing in the morning. He pushed Albee inside and ordered him to sit on his bed. Vukovich slapped Albee several times across the face. He told him how he’d found his home address and knew what he had done. Then Vukovich robbed Albee and left.

Andres Barbosa 
Two days later, Vukovich entered Barbosa’s home, convicted child kidnapper and possession of child sexual abuse images in 2014. This time, he appeared at 4 a.m. with two female accomplices. Vukovich threatened Barbosa with a hammer. He told him to sit down and before warning he would bash his dome in, he punched him in the face first. In a later bail memorandum, Vukovich stated he was at Barbosa to “collect what he owed,” as one of the two females filmed the incident with her cellphone. Vukovich and the other woman robbed Barbosa. They stole several items, including the man's truck.

Wesley Demarest 
In June 29, Demarest, convicted of attempted sexual abuse of a minor in 2006, woke to Vukovich forcing his way into his home at 1 a.m. He ordered Demarest to lie on his bed, but the man refused. Vukovich told him to get on his knees, and Demarest said no. Vukovich then struck Demarest with a hammer in the face that fractured his skull. During the assault, Vukovich told Demarest: “I’m an avenging angel. I’m going to mete out justice for the people you hurt.” Vukovich stole several items, including a laptop, and fled. Demarest woke up in his own blood and called the police.

Arrest and trial 
Finding Vukovich did not take long for the authorities as he was sitting in his Honda Civic a few blocks away. Inside the car, the police found  the stolen goods, a hammer, and a notebook containing the names and addresses of the three assault victims, which he had crossed off.

Vukovich was arrested on the spot. Later, he was charged with 18 counts of assault, robbery, burglary, and theft. Initially, Vukovich pleaded not guilty but instead, he opted to make a deal with the prosecution.

Vukovich pled guilty to first-degree attempted assault and another consolidated count of first-degree robbery. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed over a dozen other charges, which led to a sentence of 28 years in prison in 2018, with five years suspended and another five on probation.  

Vukovich clarified his brutal motivations and regrets in his 2017 letter to the Anchorage Daily News:

“I thought back to my experiences as a child… I took matters into my own hands and assaulted three pedophiles,” he wrote. “If you have already lost your youth, like me, due to a child abuser, please do not throw away your present and your future by committing acts of violence.”

Vukovich appealed his sentence because his PTSD should be considered a mitigating factor in his case. However, he lost the bid in October 2020. Despite being considered a hero among some Alaskans, the judge ruled, “Vigilantism won’t be accepted in our society.”

Meanwhile, Ember Tilton, Vukovich’s attorney, shared the sentiments of thousands who have pledged their support on several online petition sites for his client, pleading for his release. To them, the cyclicality of violence and trauma will unlikely end by keeping victims-turned-criminals in jail.

“I don’t think he needs to be punished,” said Tilton. “He’s already been punished. This whole thing started out as the punishment of a child who didn’t deserve to be treated this way.”

Vukovich has urged others who have been victims of sexual abuse during their childhood to seek inner peace and reject vigilante justice.

Online petitions 
According to KTUU, many people praised Vukovich after his arrest and was called a hero. Many have started online petitions asking to free Vukovich, with a hashtag #FreeJasonVukovich because they assert that the justice system does nothing to punish pedophiles and less to help their victims. On Twitter, the hashtags #FreeJasonVukovich #justiceforjason #justiceforjasonvukovich were used to show their support.

References 

1975 births
Living people
American male criminals
Criminals from Alaska
People from Anchorage, Alaska
American people convicted of robbery
American vigilantes
Vigilantism against sex offenders