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call HART crazy .. but
.. didn’t this guy suffer enough from the break-up? (just kidding) .. Geeeeesh talking about going too far!
Source: CTV.ca
Cyberstalker sent to jail for harassing his ex
Updated Fri. Mar. 17 2006 9:23 AM ETCTV.ca News Staff
A cyberstalker was sentenced to a year in prison by an Alberta judge on Thursday for severely harassing his ex-girlfriend using the Internet.
After their Oct. 2003 breakup, Jonathan Barnes, 32, began to harass his girlfriend, Cari Benson, 28, in what the judge compared to a severe physical assault.
Barnes used a software program on Benson’s computer to record her keystrokes so that he could gain access to her personal information.
He then used the passwords to hack into her email, bank accounts, and cell phone records. Barnes even withdrew Benson from her college course using the information he compiled.
The harassment continued when he sent nude pictures of Benson to her family, friends and workplace.
Using his ex-girlfriend’s picture, Barnes also pretended to be Benson in Internet chat rooms. He would then invite those he met online to meet up, giving out Benson’s work address.
That resulted in people showing up at Benson’s work unbeknownst to her.
Despite requests by both the defence and Crown for a non-jail sentence, provincial court Judge Gary Cioni denied the plea saying Barnes’ crimes were too serious and his rehabilitation too uncertain.
“The trauma, the fear and intimidation that goes with the course of harassment is harm itself,” Cioni told the court. “I’m most concerned whether the accused would endanger the community.”
Legal Analyst Steven Skurka told Canada AM on Friday that this case is unprecedented in Canada.
“This is certainly the first case of its kind that I’ve come across,” Skurka said. “I’m confident that until today many people didn’t even realize that this was a crime.”
He said the man, guilty of criminal harassment, was on a vendetta against his ex-girlfriend.
“It’s really more a case of cyber rage than cyberstalking,” Skurka said. “What this man really did was seek to destroy this woman’s life.”
Cioni added on three years probation for Barnes while restricting him from using weapons, drugs and alcohol. He did not ban Barnes from using a computer.
Barnes did apologize to the court saying his actions “were done impulsively at the time.”
His ex-girlfriend wasn’t convinced that he was remorseful for what occurred, telling the Calgary Sun that “he hasn’t changed at all.”
“I’ve gone to great lengths to repair the damage he’s caused,” Benson said after the sentencing. “I don’t know what he’ll do to other women.”
This case is so new that police, the judiciary and lawyers are trying to bridge the knowledge gap on exactly what cyberstalking entails.
“We have to be trained about these cases,” Skurka said. “We have to learn about the technology, understand the power of the internet, the kind of formidable power that can destroy people’s lives.”
© 2006 Bell Globemedia Inc. All Rights Reserved.
