Category Archives: Cyber Abuse
Manhattan Lawyer David Waldman Charged With Cyberstalking
David Waldman, 50, is an attorney who launched a relentless campaign against his banker ex-girlfriend after she ended their four-month relationship. He bombarded her with vile text messages, emails, and launched hateful websites. Waldman also went as far as to send a letter to his ex-girlfriend’s boss claiming that she’s a drug addict. After posting things about her that directly claimed her to have mental illness, and after threatening to appear at her apartment, Waldman told his ex-girlfriend’s employer that he was going to sue her for defamation, illegal trespass, and violating HIPAA.
Some of Waldman’s other communications included;
“I only hope you die of cervical cancer before I can f— up your s—,” Waldman wrote on a website he created in 2014 called eurotrashroyalty.blogspot.com. “No k–e civil attorneys, no car load of your pals, or anything else you have in your arsenal will cause me to even blink.”
“When…
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Home of Parkland School Survivor David Hogg Swatted
They call it a “prank” or a “hoax”, but it’s actually a fraudulent call to law enforcement with intent to have an innocent person or persons killed under color and claim of official right.
The family of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student activist David Hogg was the victim of a “swatting” incident Tuesday morning.
A SWAT team responded to a call just after 8:30 a.m. of a barricaded subject at Hogg’s residence. The caller said there was a person with a weapon inside of the home, Broward County Sheriff’s spokesman Joy Oglesby told CNN.
The call was later determined to be a hoax.No one was at home at the time of the incident, Oglesby said. Hogg and his family are in Washington D.C to accept the RFK Humanitarian Award.Swatting is usually done by computer hackers, gamers or people skilled in online and smartphone communications as a prank. They make a false report of a serious crime in progress, resulting in police making a major show of force on innocent, unsuspecting people.
Two Men Federally Indicted Along With Swatter Tyler Barris
Imagine this …
Two guys are playing an online computer game. They get angry with each other. One guy threatens to have the other swatted, that is, he will make a false report to the police so they will show up ready to kill. The other guy dares him to and gives him a fake address.
The guy who threatened the swatting contacts another guy in California who is ruthless, has a history of making false police reports and bomb threats, and takes pride in doing it. The swatter who is in California, makes a false police report to Wichita, Kansas.
It ends with an innocent 28-year old father being killed. His children no longer have a father.
Now, don’t imagine it. It is true.
Tyler Barris in Court
Tyler Barris was the swatter. On December 28, 2017, he made a false police report that he was in the house…
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Juan Thompson Sentenced To 5 Years In Federal Prison For Cyberstalking And Making Hoax Bomb Threats
Cross-posted from Stop Cyber Abuse.
“The response by and large is: Ignore it and turn off your computer,” said Danielle Citron, a University of Maryland law professor and author of “Hate Crimes in Cyberspace.”
Law enforcement must realize that there is a difference between internet trolls and cyberstalkers. When trolls are ignored, they generally go elsewhere and find someone else to hassle. They generally don’t have personal hatred and retribution against those they troll. Trolls generally have no personal knowledge of those they troll.
Cyberstalkers are different. What they do is intended to cause harm in the personal lives of their target victims and some extend that harm to the family of target victims. They have usually been friends or another type of acquaintance. When they are ignored, they find another way to get their target’s attention. If their overall intent is to destroy their victim’s life, they continue and progress in their course of conduct.
As this case demonstrates, when they think that they will not be arrested, they eventually do something so outrageous that it goes beyond cyberstalking.
Juan Thompson
The convicted perpetrator in this case used actions to conduct his cyberstalking that cannot be explained in summary. In other words, this post is going to be longer than usual. There are two main sources I use for this post. The Department of Justice’s press release gives details of illegal actions leading to arrest. The other source is the Seattle Times that published an interview with the victim, Francesca Rossi.
Juan Thompson, 31, of St. Louis, was employed as a journalist by The Intercept from November 2014 until January 2016. Thompson was fired for fabricating sources and quotes in stories.
In late 2014, Francesca met Juan on an online dating site. She worked as a social worker. They bonded over their commitment for reform. In the Spring of 2015, Juan moved into Francesca’s Brooklyn apartment.
Francesca started getting harassing texts from ex-boyfriends. The wife of an ex-boyfriend said she sued Francesca, accusing her of giving the ex-boyfriend a sexually transmitted disease. The lawsuit turned out to be a hoax. Then Francesca found a nude picture of herself online.
Francesca contacted Carrie Goldberg, a lawyer that specializes in online harassment. Attorney Goldberg quickly figured out that only one person was behind the harassment. Juan had been posing as Francesca’s ex-boyfriends for months. Francesca believed that he was trying to make her feel bad so he could intimidate and control her. (Known fact; Stalkers often create conditions to cause their target victims to feel they need them to resolve or for comfort.) Read the rest of this entry
Former Irondequoit, NY Cop Sentenced To Five Years For Cyberstalking
The Democrat and Chronicle reports that when first interviewed by the FBI, William Rosica claimed innocence. His former girlfriend received emails from Katy Jones. Rosica’s proof of his innocence was showing FBI agents that Katy Jones also sent him a load of emails. Rosica claimed that Katy Jones was sending emails to him to warn him that his former girlfriend was surveilling him.
“Please be careful,” read one of the Katy Jones emails to Rosica. “She is very devious and wants to ruin you. She thinks you’re with someone else.”
As the agents suspected, Rosica was using the name Katy Jones when sending the emails to his former girlfriend and himself.
“Between February 2016 and March 2017, defendant William Rosica subjected the victim to a nonstop sadistic campaign of terror and psychological torture intended to kill, injure, harass, and intimidate her”.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Rosica enlisted other police to surveil his former girlfriend; had other individuals use disposable “burner” phones to pass information onto him about her whereabouts; had someone rummage through the woman’s trash; and surreptitiously secured information about her television viewing that he then used “to show that he knew her every move”. Read the rest of this entry
Accused Swatter Tyler Barriss Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter
Cross posted from Stop Cyber Abuse
On January 3, 2018, I predicted that if Kansas has felony murder law, that Tyler Barriss would be charged for the death of Andrew Finch.
I’ve been following and posting about this case. It is another demonstration for how cyber abuse crosses the line of the internet into the personal and private lives of victims, causing harm emotionally, physically and in this case, resulting in death.
Tyler Barriss made a call reporting that he killed his father, was holding his mom and little brother hostage, had poured gasoline throughout the house and was planning to set it on fire. He gave 911 dispatch an address. It was not his address. Barriss was making a swatting call. Andrew Finch, the man at the address, heard noise outside the house and opened his front door. He was shot dead by a Wichita police officer.
Barriss, who is 25-years old, was still on the phone with dispatch after Andrew was shot. Andrew was unarmed and uninvolved in the events leading to Barriss’ false police report. Andrew was 28-years old and the father of two children. Read the rest of this entry
Davie, Florida Cop Found Guilty Of Sextortion
The victim waited three years for trial, but only had to wait 20 minutes for the verdict.
In 2010, Brittany Assam was 22 years-old, and James Krey was 37 years-old. They both were police officers with the Davie, Florida police department. They had dated for 18 months and broke-up in February 2015. James Krey wanted Brittany to leave town. He threatened to send naked pictures and a sex video of Brittany to their colleagues if she didn’t leave town.
James Krey
“Jimmy, please don’t destroy me. I will leave the department,” Brittany said in one text message, which she read to the jury at trial.
“You’re going to have to leave Broward, sweetheart,” he replied. “Anywhere you go, I have people.”
On March 10, 2015, Brittany took the threatening text messages to the Coral Springs Police Department where she resided. James Krey was arrested and placed on paid leave.
In July 2017, Krey asked the court to exclude evidence from his cell phone. Judge Bailey declined to suppress the disputed evidence because police did not actually search the contents of Krey’s phone until after they had obtained a warrant. Krey’s defense lawyer, Jeremy Kroll, conceded that the jury could still see the texts on Brittany’s phone. Read the rest of this entry
After Stealing My Word Press Identity, Former Writer Threatens To Have This Blog “Shutdown”
I’m cross-posting here from the flightattendant blog because the threat made by Santiago Rodriguez pertains to this blog.
Santiago Came To Me Asking For Help
In May 2014, a man named David Piercy filed for a restraining order against Santiago Rodriguez. The court granted Piercy a temporary restraining order against Santiago. There was a hearing scheduled for a ruling on the permanent restraining order. As I understand it, there were exchanges on Twitter where Santiago became aware that bloggers and others had allegedly been harassed by Piercy. Someone pointed Santiago in my direction and he reached out to me.
Subsequently, Santiago asked that I put his name on the border of my blog, We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident, as a writer. This is how it happened …
Fourteen Year Old Charged With Cyber-harassment and Ethnic Intimidation
(Cross posted from Flightattendantfailures)
After an approximate 3-month investigation, a 14-year-old Northampton, PA student has been charged with cyber harassment and ethnic intimidation. The 14-year old took a video of a 16-year old student eating lunch and posted it on Snapchat. The 14-year old is White. The 16-year old is Black.
Northampton County District Attorney, John Morganelli, said of the video;
“I reviewed the video today and I find it to be highly offensive and reprehensible. It depicts the 16-year-old minding his own business eating chicken wings while the 14-year-old records him and narrates it by describing the scene as ‘a N-word eating chicken.’
“The video demeans the 16-year-old with numerous uses of the N-word and references to being broke and on welfare. As bad as that is, the 14-year-old published the offensive video on social media including Snapchat that was viewed by numerous students as well as the 16-year-old male, …”
Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli at a news conference on Jan. 3, 2017. (Rudy Miller)
However, the District Attorney did not know of the video until after the 16-year old Black student was arrested and charged with simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct. That’s because while at a football game attended by both student, the Black student retaliated by opening a can of whoop-ass on the 14-year old.
Neither teen has been publicly identified by authorities.
D.A. Morganelli will allow the 14-year-old to seek an “informal adjustment” in juvenile court. If he completes the probationary requirements, he will not be charged with the crimes.
The 16-year old Black student will also be allowed an “informal adjustment.” Morganelli said the black student had previously been the subject of discrimination from a group of students calling themselves “the rednecks.” He said he had a confederate flag thrown on him when he transferred to the school from out of state. Read the rest of this entry
California Man Charged With Identity Theft In Cyber-Harassment
California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris
On January 19, 2016, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and Placer County District Attorney R. Scott Owens, announced the arraignment of Riley Bangerter, 36, of Roseville. Bangerter has been charged with 11 counts of identity theft in a case of cyber harassment. Bangerter was arrested on December 3, 2015 and was arraigned on January 11, 2016. Bangerter has pled not guilty.
In 2011, Attorney General Harris created the eCrime Unit within the California Department of Justice to identify and prosecute for crimes including identity theft, cybercrimes and other crimes involving the use of technology.
An investigation by Attorney General Harris’ eCrime Unit found that Bangerter superimposed images of his ex-wife onto pornographic images and posted them online, accompanied by her personal identifying information.
When announcing charges against Bangerter, AG Harris stated,
“Bangerter’s heinous actions sought to humiliate, belittle and destroy the personal and professional life of his victim. This prosecution sends a clear message to all who dare to perpetrate the crimes of cyber harassment and cyber exploitation, that these cowardly acts will not be tolerated in California. I thank the Placer County District Attorney’s office for their partnership and commitment to holding Bangerter accountable for these deplorable acts.”
Brave New Bullying—How to Protect Yourself from Cyberbullying
Excellent advice, and it encourages and inspires. “Starve them.” I’ve said the same thing. Thanks so much for this post.
I’ve talked before about how I train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Recently, I have started assisting with teaching the kid’s class. It is shocking how much time we devote to training kids to stand up to bullies. Bullies, in my opinion, are among the lowest known existing lifeforms. I wouldn’t want to insult cockroaches and fleas by drawing a comparison.
I’d love to say that we leave bullies behind when we are no longer kids, but I think bullying just gets worse and harder to fight. As writers, we deal with bullies a lot. Tragically, I’ve received many messages from semi-suicidal writers who left their dream profession because they had the misfortune of landing in the crosshairs of cyberbullies and no longer could endure the stress.
I have a hard time blaming them. I know what it is like to be willing to do anything to escape the torment.
Kristen’s…
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State Dept. Employee Charged With Cyberstalking, Hacking and Extortion
Michael C. Ford thought he was sophisticated in how he terrorized young women on the internet. His methods however, resulted in federal charges of interstate threats, fraud in connection with computers, wire fraud, and cyberstalking.
Some of us are familiar with the threats, being on the receiving end. They are threats that unless you do what the perpetrator wants, that they will post your personal information on the internet. Many times, that is combined with claiming to have some type of “public document” and misrepresenting it so they can demean and mock.
Michael C. Ford
Michael C. Ford however, did not use “public documents” as a threat against his victims. He hacked into protected accounts on the internet and obtained sexual photos of his victims. The 17 page warrant is an interesting read.
Ford used various Google email addresses to make contact with a woman, reported to be 18-years old, letting her know that he had obtained some sexually compromising photos of her, and that he also knew her real name and address. He demanded that she take videos of other girls undressing and/or nude, and send them to him or he would release the photos to her family and friends, and post them on the internet along with her personal information.
Illinois Does It Again – Arrests Two For Internet Harassment
In November 2014, we reported on the case of Steven and Joseph Rusinowski versus Robert DiDomenico. It was a case of cyberharassment gone wild. The case was originally filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County and on July 15, 2011, transferred to the federal district court for the Northern District of Illinois. On October 2, 2014, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Rusinowski and against DiDomenico, awarding Rusinowski $50,000.
One of the most important rulings in that case caught the attention of attorneys. The judge ruled that Illinois has long arm jurisdiction that applies to electronic harassment. That means that those who harass citizens of Illinois over the internet and/or telephone, no matter where the perpetrator lives, will have to defend in Illinois.
Brandon Wilson
In February of this year, we reported on Brandon Wilson of Las Vegas, Nevada, who hacked, harassed, and pulled pranks over the internet. Evidently feeling comfortable behind his computer and using handles, he made a serious mistake — he made a call to Naperville, Illinois 911 and gave a false police report resulting in SWAT showing up to an innocent man’s house. Evidence was gathered from Wilson’s computers showing that it was not the only time that he made a false police report.
Wilson was extradited to Illinois.
Last month, KMOV news reported that a Collinsville, Illinois’ family was electronically harassed. It began with the family’s 12-year old son receiving threatening voice texts and harassment on Facebook. The 12-year old’s brother, 20-year old Devon Dean, tried to step in to stop it, but the person then made him a target. The harassment included racially offensive comments. Read the rest of this entry
Cyberabusers
The other week, I was watching the Steve Harvey show and Paula Todd was a guest on his program. Paula Todd is a Canadian journalist, investigative author, broadcaster, and lawyer. She is a professor of broadcast journalism and digital media at Seneca College, and is a frequent speaker on cyberabuse, Internet culture, writing, reporting, literacy and freedom of the press. In 2014, she published the book, Extreme Mean: Trolls, Bullies and Predators Online.
An introduction of her book starts with;
“Cyberbullying, tormenting and revenge porn. Workplace digital skullduggery, online defamation and reputation annihilation. Cyberstalking, Anon hate and adults ridiculing other’s children. Digital sexual extortion, blackmail and predators on the prowl. Which kids, youth and adults are behind this negative online behaviour and what can be done to stop the abuse?”
For those who have Word Press blogs, you know that we can see referrals to our blog from other sites and emails. I don’t always check that section on the Admin side, but when I saw a significant increase in the number of views one day, I did check.
Steve Harvey’s website linked to an article on Blackbutterfly7. Words cannot express how honored I was. Of all the sites on the internet that reported on the particular subject matter, Blackbutterfly7 was chosen. I didn’t publicly share that information. Why? Because for years, cyberextortionists stalk the internet looking for opportunity to disparage this blog and defame me. I did not want them trying to verbally vandalize Steve Harvey’s website and taking up the time of his staff to moderate their defamatory vileness. Read the rest of this entry
Tyler Clementi anti-bullying bill reintroduced in Congress
I hope that the Bill passes. Ashely Judd just had some things to say about cyberbullying. It’s getting national attention and it’s time for federal law.
“Schools need to take bullying, harassment and humiliation seriously, by making it official policy,” Jane Clementi said. “We support this legislation because no other student should have to feel the pain and humiliation that Tyler felt after he had been web-camed by his roommate.”
Legislation named after Tyler Clamenti was reintroduced in Congress. (Photo courtesy Facebook) Lawmakers reintroduced a bill in Congress on Wednesday named after an 18-year-old Rutgers University student who committed suicide in 2010 after his roommate posted a video of his private romantic encounter with another man online.
The bill, the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act, was introduced in the House by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and in the Senate by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). The only out lesbian in the U.S. Senate, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), is an original co-sponsor for the Senate bill.
In a statement, Murray said the legislation is necessary because students need…
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19-Year Old Arrested For Cyberharassment
Brandon Wilson
Online, he uses the handle “Famed God.” Brandon Wilson now has fame, but not in the manner he wanted. Thursday, Wilson was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is now behind bars in Nevada waiting extradition to Illinois. In July, Wilson allegedly reported a murder to Naperville’s emergency 911 line. The SWAT team responded and found that the call was a false report. Illinois prosecutors said there is evidence on Wilson’s computers that the July 10, 2014 “swatting” hoax was not the only time that Wilson made false police reports.
“Swatting” is the new form of internet harassment which involves falsely reporting a dangerous situation to send the police to another person’s home. The false report can lead to deployment of a SWAT team.
Wilson is also said to have hacked the gaming consoles of two others and threatened to put someone “in debt for life” by accessing banking information. Illinois prosecutors said charges Wilson faces include two counts of computer tampering, one count of intimidation, computer fraud, identity theft and disorderly conduct. If convicted, Wilson faces up to 5 years in prison.
Faces of Racism Pt 3
Appeals, Requests for Sanctions & petitions ohh my… (Make the insanity stop)
Hi! Santiago here.
There hasn’t been much of a change in Mr. Stalkers behavior since losing his bid for a restraining order and having one issued against him. But we expected that. I mean after all we are dealing with a mentally ill individual who in his own mind, seems to believe he is untouchable.
Since the final order was entered, his harassment hasn’t stopped. In fact he has advanced his harassment to the point where there is currently an active investigation in the works for violations. So what has exactly happened since? Well in late August Mr. Stalker decided to ask the appellate court to re-instate his temporary restraining order that request was denied.
Shortly after having been denied his request to re-instate the temporary restraining order, Mr. Stalker motioned the court to sanction me. The court denied his request. As expected, not satisfied with the outcome of both orders, Mr. Stalker decided to petition the court for a restraining order, filing a new case claiming he is being harassed once again, and stating its continued harassment post our June 2nd hearing.
Fortunately, the judge denied his request immediately and stated that the case has already been heard and ruled on. It’s currently in the 5th district court of appeals pending ruling. I initially had no idea he made a 2nd attempt through the court to obtain a restraining order. Read the rest of this entry
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 