FOX 17 News

A national advocacy group is sounding a warning about a sexual battery in Clarksville.

The suspect was selling magazines door to door.

Critics of door to door magazine sales point to a long history of crimes, including rapes and murders.

We spoke to the director of a Wisconsin based group who says these salesmen could put you in danger.

Two women in Clarksville are still shaken by their encounter with a door to door salesman.

"I trusted people and this is what I got," says one victim.

24 year old Clayton Williams Marth was selling magazines for Dream Team Subscriptions when police say he grabbed his victims’ hands and placed them on his genitals.

"It's a vicious problem, and it's a national tragedy," says industry critic and advocate Phil Ellenbecker.

Phil Ellenbecker has been studying traveling sales crews for the past decade.

His passion is personal. His daughter Malinda was killed on the job when the van she was riding in crashed.

"They operate under the covers, they are fly by night," says Ellenbecker.

The sales crews travel around the country, often in a van with several people.

Many fail to get a proper permit, which is also the case in Clarksville.

Ellenbecker and his Dedicated Memorial Parents Group have a website documenting a long list of crimes, including murder, allegedly committed by door to door salesmen.

Many of them were selling magazines just like Clayton Marth.

"We've logged upwards in the vicinity of 350 high profile felony cases in the last ten years," says Ellenbecker.

We contacted the local supervisor for Dream Team Subscriptions, and we asked him for his corporate office. He gave us a number that was disconnected.

FOX 17 News has confirmed that Dream Team is a sales agent for Washington state based Pacific Coast Clearing Services.

A manager there couldn’t speak with us until Monday.

The victims in Clarksville say they’ve learned their lesson.

"It was bad enough for me that I'm paranoid now. I won't trust anybody," says a victim.

Phil Ellenbecker’s wants other Middle Tennesseans to beware the next time a magazine salesman knocks.

"If they come to your door and you see a out of state tag on that van, you go to the phone and call police because you're in danger," says Ellenbecker.

Tennessee has a terrible history of crimes being committed by magazine salesmen.

In 2003 three crimes occurred.

A 31 year old woman was raped in La Vergne. A six year old girl was fondled in Portland, and a grandmother in Knox County was raped and murdered.

We should mention, none of those suspects worked for Dream Team Subscriptions.
A Revealing Look at Magazine Salesmen