Kristian James O’Hara entered a guilty plea in Wilmington to one count of conspiracy to commit cyberstalking in a federal case involving a one-time Delaware resident.
Sentencing has been scheduled for July 23. He faces a maximum of five years’ imprisonment.
According to court documents and statements made in open court, O’Hara engaged in cyberstalking in Delaware, New Jersey, and New York.
The incidents involved a former classmate of O’Hara’s, as well as the classmate’s parents and the classmate’s romantic partner.
O’Hara further admitted that he also engaged in cyberstalking conduct against other victims throughout this period, including former high school classmates, office co-workers, and others who rejected his advances.
O’Hara’s harassment took multiple forms, including late-night food orders, spoofed phone calls, and voicemails left at the victim’s childhood home in Delaware, where O’Hara and his co-conspirator falsely claimed the victim gave O’Hara a sexually transmitted disease.
Often the cyberstalking acts drew from the victim’s posted messages or information shared with the victim’s social network that included O’Hara.
escalated the conduct when, after the victim rejected romantic advances once again, he engaged in further aggression. The last acts included signing the victim’s professional work email address up for membership at a website with adult content, barraging the victim’s new cell phone number with spoofed calls, and posting the victim’s name, likeness, and cell phone number on a sex-chat website.
Each time his victim took steps to deter him, O’Hara found new means to continue his conduct. The persistent nature of O’Hara’s conduct caused his victim to fear leaving the victim’s, a release noted
U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss said the following, “Cyberstalking conduct like this is designed to inflict psychological damage on another person. The defendant used the Internet to exact revenge on an innocent victim by using the information posted to the victim’s social network to harass. And while the victim and victim’s family adapted their lives to evade further harassment, the defendant delighted in the harm he caused and sought to inflict maximal damage. It was only when apprehended by law enforcement that the defendant stopped the cyberstalking acts he had perpetrated for years.”
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by FBI Baltimore – Wilmington Cyber Task Force, which was supported by the FBI New York Cyber Task Force, Newark Cyber Task Force, and the New York City Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney Cloud.
