He’s accused of using location tracking apps, texts, video calls and other means to stalk his then-partner between 2016 and 2020. — AFP Relaxnews
An Alaska man accused of the “dangerous and destructive” cyberstalking of a woman has been sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison, federal prosecutors said.
The 41-year-old man, of Anchorage, also must serve three years of supervised release, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska said in a news release.
His attorney didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
Prosecutors said he “terrorised” his partner and those around her, including the young daughter they shared, her parents and her boss, “until they genuinely and reasonably feared for their lives.”
McClatchy News is not naming the man to protect the identity of his ex and their daughter.
He’s accused of using location tracking apps, texts, video calls and other means to stalk his then-partner between 2016 and 2020.
The man “justified his behaviour by falsely accusing the victim of cheating on him”, prosecutors said.
At one point, the woman’s employer “locked down (her workplace) for several days and hired armed paramilitary-style security guards to protect the building where (she) worked”, prosecutors said. The lockdown came after the man left threatening voicemails for the woman’s boss and showed up at work looking for the boss, prosecutors said.
His harassment “continued even after she obtained a protective order”, prosecutors said.
He called her “a total of 1,317 times while the protective order was in place”, officials said, adding that his “stalking and threats did not stop” until his 2020 arrest.
“(His) actions were dangerous and destructive, causing immeasurable harm on those affected,” S. Lane Tucker, US attorney for the District of Alaska, said in the news release. “The victim in this case displayed extraordinary bravery by coming forward, and I hope this sentence brings a measure of closure.”
In a sentencing memorandum, the man’s attorney said her client loved his former partner but his “unregulated mental illness triggered substance abuse that caused him to behave erratically”.
His paranoia and anxiety made him think she was cheating, and “the thought of losing his family prompted more substance abuse and, therefore, more erratic, self-destructive behaviour. It became a vicious cycle,” attorney Alexis E. Howell said.
He now has a mental health diagnosis, she said.
The man was first convicted in June, but he was granted a new trial after the resignation of the judge who presided in the case, prosecutors said.
He was convicted again in a new trial in November, officials said. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service
