Summary of Harassment

Since July 7, 1996 we have received obscene email from Richard Hillyard's MindSpring account, copies of the same emails sent various anonymous remailers (sent to my and Katie's email addresses), obscene email from Dick Coward via various anonymous remailers, and from many people responding to the prostitution ads and other posts made by Dick Coward in various newsgroups. For many years we didn't have one week, and had very few days, without unwanted sexually explicit communication from these people. Many of them sent pornographic images, as well.

We've received email from Dick Coward stating that he followed us from our mailing address (at a Mail Boxes Etc.) to our home.

We've received threatening email with phrases such as "you'd better watch your back," "let's get it on, bitch!" and "I'm your worse nightmare" (his misspelling, not mine). Because of those threats we moved three times in one year. I also learned to use a handgun and obtained a concealed carry permit.

We received harassing phone calls at all hours of the day and night. I lost track of the number of times I had our phone number changed. We never learned how Dick Coward repeatedly obtained our unlisted and unpublished numbers. Many times messages were left in our voice mail with strange sounds like a man mocking someone crying or a man laughing in a menacing manner.

Prostitution ads and "referrals," sex-wanted ads, pornography and advertisements claiming my web site provides "free sex pics" were repeatedly been posted to many sex-related newsgroups, as well as discussion newsgroups in which I regularly participate. Those messages continued regularly for years. My parents' home address and telephone number and my mother's work address and phone number were also published in prostitution ads using my mother's and my name.

Someone impersonated me on IRC channels seeking sexually explicit communication from men and implying that I wanted phone sex and physical sexual encounters, occasioning more obscene email.

I was repeatedly attacked in newsgroup posts and on Richard Hillyard and Dick Coward's web pages.

The emotional and psychological effects have been extremely negative for both me and my daughter, and I fear that this nightmare has scarred us permanently in many ways.

Moving repeatedly and taking other measures to ensure our physical safety, of course, cost money--and we have never been wealthy people.

An incredible amount of time has been involved in moving, in attempting to find and remove the libelous materials this man has spread across the Internet, and in responding to the innocent parties taken in by his lies.

I'm not able to participate in any forum on the Internet without constantly being aware that anything I say will almost certainly be taken out of context and used in further attempts to ruin my reputation, so I have greatly restricted my involvement on the net. I must constantly be suspicious of anyone I encounter here, even those making overtures of friendship.