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| ANGEL CO-OP SPECIAL CYBERSTALKING: HOW SAFE ARE YOU? 1. "Fifty-year-old security guard" The following example shows that it is not necessary to have a personal computer or the Internet in order to be a victim of cyberstalking. " The victim met the perpetrator at church, and continually rejected his romantic attempts. The perpetrator, a fifty-year-old security guard, retaliated to her rejection by posting her personal details to the Internet. These included her physical description, address and telephone number, and even included details about how one could bypass her home security system. He also posted false rape and 'gang-bang' fantasies to on-line forums. On approximately half a dozen occasions, men arrived at the victim's home in the hope of 'cashing in' on these supposed fantasies. As the victim posted messages to her door stating these requests were false, the perpetrator posted messages on-line stating that these were simply tests to determine who was in fact 'worthy' of her fantasies. The victim's mother states that she had men coming to her door at all hours of the night, and that "she got dozens of calls by men who would leave filthy, disgusting messages." The victim was eventually forced from her home, suffered from weight loss, lost her job and developed a fear of going outside of her home. (From the L.A Times, Friday the 22nd of January, 1999 and Saturday the 23rd of January, 1999)
2. "Amy Boyer" "Twenty-year-old Amy Boyer lived at home with her parents in Nashua, New Hampshire, was employed at a local dentist's office and had a boyfriend. In early October of 1999, she logged onto the Web with her mother to check out travel rates for a trip she was planning. Neither one of them thought twice about being on-line, yet neither knew how close they were to discovering danger. On October 15, Amy, ambushed outside the dentist's office as she got in her car, was shot and killed. Her killer then committed suicide. For days, the police had no idea why this young woman was killed by a young man. There seemed to be no connection between the two of them and no motive. Then when police confiscated the killer's computer, they found the connection - two Web sites devoted to Amy Boyer created by Liam Youens, 21, who had been carrying a torch for her ever since Junior High school. But he did not know Amy and Amy never knew Liam." (Hitchcock J.A., 2000) According to Trudy Gregorie (retrieved 2003) who is the Director of Training National Center for Victims of Crime, Liam found Amy's social security number over the Internet; he was then able to find out her license plate number and where she worked. He wrote out his plans to kill her on a Web site posted in her name and drove over to her work place within minutes and killed her.
3. “Nanci” "In 1999 "Nanci" went into a Worcester, Massachusetts, romance chat room. Another chatter commented that he did not like her username. She defended herself and soon they began arguing with each other in the chat room. But the argument didn't end. Each time Nanci tried to log onto the chat room, her harasser was there, waiting for her, and became more aggressive. At one point he told her he'd hired someone else in the chat room to beat her up; another time he posted information he'd found out about her on-line--who her father was and where she lived--then he said he wouldn't be happy until she was "6 feet under the ground." Justifiably horrified, Nanci went to her local police, who laughed at her and told her there was nothing to be done--even with the implied death threat. The harasser became more aggressive and began e-mailing her or Instant Messaging Nanci, telling her what kind of car she was driving, where she'd been earlier that day, and the name of her daughter. Nanci went to the State police, the County District Attorney, then the State Attorney General. Each one pointed fingers at the other, claiming they couldn't help her, but that the other department should. Nanci finally hired a lawyer, filed a civil suit, and then contacted the local media. When she appeared in court with TV journalists following her, the DA backed down and began helping her. Charges were finally filed against her cyberstalker, and the trial date has been set for later this year."
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