Earlier this year, a social media account started documenting the mysterious and alarming appearance of spray-painted swastikas around downtown Ventura.

But the account was not run by a good Samaritan trying to draw attention to a hate crime, authorities later determined. It was instead the handiwork of a convicted rapist who was committing the vandalism himself, then posting photos online in an effort to sow fear, according to the Ventura Police Department and the county district attorney’s office.

John Williams, 32, of Ventura admitted this week that he had vandalized public and private property with swastikas. Williams was convicted of forcible rape in 2019 and was on parole at the time of the crimes, according to court records.

He was arrested on March 30 and initially pleaded not

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