An Akron, Ohio, man has been accused of harassing perceived enemies, dispatching prostitutes solicited on the Internet to neighbors’ homes and sending sexually explicit images to employees of his court-ordered drug treatment program. The man originally pleaded guilty to 22 felony and misdemeanor counts but later recanted and persuaded the judge to allow the case to proceed in open court. A subsequent grand jury handed two more felony counts and two additional misdemeanors.
The man, who once falsely confessed to killing 31 women around the country and triggered a massive nationwide dragnet for his purported victims, was ordered to 30 days’ house arrest on a misdemeanor charge. Shortly thereafter, harassing and sexually explicit text messages and images began to appear on the phones of staff at the drug-treatment program.
The man is also believed to have sent prostitutes found on Backpage.com to his neighbors’ homes at least six times. Investigators who raided the home in October found a cache of phones, all registered to an alias the man was known to use frequently, one of which allegedly contained communications involving ordering a prostitute. The man currently stands accused of 26 felony charges and misdemeanors.
In defending criminal cases such as this one, an attorney might begin by reviewing the facts of the case and the conduct of law enforcement in executing the search. The attorney may request psychiatric evaluation to determine the client’s state of mind and fitness to stand trial. In some cases the attorney might attempt to broker a plea bargain, which allows for psychiatric treatment rather than prison time and fines, or pursue the matter in court.
Source: Cleveland.com, “More charges added to harassment case of Akron man who once claimed he killed 31 people,” Adam Ferrise, Jan. 26, 2015
