CLEARWATER, Fla. – A victim in a highly publicized cyber-stalking and revenge-porn felony case was denied her constitutional rights last week when Florida state prosecutors failed to notify her legal counsel of their final decision to reduce felony charges to misdemeanors. Such failure to notify a victim or her legal counsel is in violation of the Florida Constitution, her attorney said.
According to Florida’s state constitution, a victim shall be provided reasonable and timely notice of any proceeding in which a right of the victim is implicated. Additionally, a victim also has the right to confer with the prosecuting attorney concerning any plea agreements, the state constitution mandates.
According to the victim’s attorney, the state failed to ensure those rights were fulfilled.
“While it is typically unusual for a victim to obtain their own legal counsel during a criminal proceeding, our client felt she needed to have representation to ensure the protection of her constitutional rights.” Josh Drechsel, an attorney and former state prosecutor said in a statement Monday. “We strongly disagree with their decision to reduce these charges to a misdemeanor, as the state statutes clearly allow for these charges to move forward as felonies.”
In March, the defendant, a 58-year-old Clearwater, Florida resident, was arrested by Largo Police for felony aggravated stalking, sexual harassment and criminal use of personal identification following the execution of a search warrant by officers.
The case is the result of months long investigations led by private investigators and local law enforcement officials. Hubbard Investigations, the private investigative firm, which helped lead law enforcement officials to the evidence, was initially contacted by the teenage victim’s mother to begin an investigation after the family began receiving harassing text messages and emails.
According to the victim’s family, the defendant was first introduced to the victim in October of 2015 while he chaperoned an event for Calvary Christian High School in Clearwater, where the defendant wife serves as the director of academics and the victim was a minor student.
According to John Hubbard, founder of Hubbard Investigations, the defendant waited until after the victim graduated from high school before he began pursuing a sexual relationship. Although the victim did have a consensual relationship with the defendant, upon the affair being ended by the victim, the defendant allegedly setup accounts on social media and dating websites using the victim’s real name, address, and published naked photos of her, without her consent.
According to investigators, the defendant utilized more than 35 different phone numbers, numerous aliases, email addresses and screen names to pretend to be the victim and other people over the last year. He allegedly contacted her fellow sports team members at her college where she plays basketball, along with coaches and family, and sent them harassing messages involving the victim. The investigation alleges that while imitating the victim through imposter social media accounts, the defendant also invited men and women he met online using the imposter social media accounts to come over to victim’s residence under the premise that she wanted to have sex with them. All of this was reportedly carried out without her knowledge and permission.
“I have been working in law enforcement and investigations for more than 30 years, and this is one of the sickest individuals I have ever investigated,” said Hubbard. “I also don’t believe this is an isolated incident. Over the course of our investigation, we have found that the defendant utilized numerous aliases and had relationships with many young women around the country. I hope now that he has been arrested, if there are other victims out there, that they will feel safe coming forward.”
To discover probable cause, which would support an arrest, Hubbard Investigations utilized several methods of investigation including witness interviews and several forms of surveillance. Hubbard Investigations partnered with Cyber Investigation Services to assist with the internet-based crimes investigation related to the case.
According to Hubbard, the defendant was still active as recent as the day before his arrest with distributing naked photos of the victim and conducting illegal activity.
“Having served as a state prosecutor and having handled thousands of felony cases, I am shocked the defendant was not properly charged with multiple felonies,” Drechsel said. “The evidence gathered during the investigation is overwhelming regarding the defendant’s guilt.”
Drechsel says there are two state statutes which allow the state to pursue felony charges and it is unclear why the state has yet to choose to pursue them.
Florida Statute 784.048(3) states, “A person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks another person and makes a credible threat to that person commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree.”
Additionally, Florida Statute 817.568(2)(a) states, “Any person who willfully and without authorization fraudulently uses, or possesses with intent to fraudulently use, personal identification information concerning another person without first obtaining that person’s consent, commits the offense of fraudulent use of personal identification information, which is a felony of the third degree.”
As this time, Drechsel is still hopeful state prosecutors will change their mind and move forward with pursuing the appropriate felony charges.
“We have respectfully requested the state to reconsider their charging decision and to move forward with felony charges,” said Drechsel.
Josh Firm, P.A., is led by Josh Drechsel, a former state prosecutor for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, who now handles victim rights cases and is a member of the National Crime Victim Bar Association. Drechsel was recently awarded a $15 million verdict against a convicted rapist in Pinellas County.
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