I’ve got a problem I’m not certain how to deal with anymore. A little over a year ago, I started receiving threats from someone I’d met online. These ocurred both via the telephone (I know I was stupid to have given out my phone number, but that’s not the issue at the moment.) and online communications. I contacted the police after the second threat, but was told that since it involved the internet, I needed to contact the Attorney General’s office. Did that, thought they were looking into it, and then got a nice letter from them informing me that it was out of their jurisdiction and I needed to contact the police department. Did that once again, and was told I needed to contact the DA’s office. Did that, and finally the ball got rolling. I took in literally hundreds of pages of chat room logs and e-mails full of filth, and spoke to the DA and the state police who work with the DA. Had to answer a plethora of questions, provide even more documentation, and juggle blindfolded while riding a unicycle, but they eventually determined that he should be charged with criminal harassment and threatening to kill me.
All the time that he was under investigation, he persisted with the threats and harassment. The day after his first court appearance, he posted my address in a chat room. He’s not at all phased by any of this, seeming to think that he’s invincible and can get away with anything.
I always thought it would be over with once he actually went to court. But it’s not. It seems as if he really is invincible and can get away with anything. He plea bargained and was given one year’s probation, at the end of which, assuming he stays out of trouble, the charges will be dismissed without a finding.
Now he’s still posting information about me online, and I don’t know what more I can do. This past weekend, he posted my name and street address into a chat room. A friend sent a log of the chat to both the police officer who was most involved in this case and me. I spoke with the detective after reading the log, and he said that he’d forwarded it to the DA and hopefully he could arrest the guy tonight, though of course it would depend on if the DA felt a probation violation had ocurred.
The DA doesn’t feel that a probation violation has taken place, however. I don’t understand how it can be acceptable to do what this guy has done, but I don’t study the law, the DA does.
Ok, if that were all he’d done, I probably wouldn’t be all that upset, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. The guy has signed me up to an online dating service, promising rather out of the ordinary things, threatened to kill me repeatedly and in detail, given out my (thankfully changed by then) phone number stating that I was a prostitute who would to anything for my next hit of heroin, threatened to kill other people for the sole reason that they’ve talked to me, and just made a real nuisance of himself.
I’m tired of being scared. I’m tired of looking over my shoulder every other minute, not knowing if that guy over there is the creep that wants to kill me. I have no idea what this guy looks like. I know his name, screen names he uses, his age, and that he lives about 40 miles from me, but nothing else.
I had hoped the legal system would take care of this, but as it looks as if that’s not the case, I’m looking for ways to empower myself. I’ve changed my phone number, left the ISP I’d been using, am changing my name when my divorce is finalized, and am planning on moving when the school year is up. In the meantime, what more can I do to keep this guy away?
I know this is rather long, rambly, and whiney, but what can I say? I’m in a rather whiney mood today. In general, people like me. Well, at least they don’t usually want to kill me. Well, ok, if they do, they don’t usually go on and on about it in my presence, at least.