Indiana man charged in Pa. Facebook stalking case
PITTSBURGH — An Indiana man created a Facebook page in the name of an ex-girlfriend he raped in Ohio, then used it to stalk a more recent ex in Pennsylvania and threaten to distribute a secretly filmed video of them having sex if she didn't return to him, police said.
Travis Allen Davis, 23, has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer has said he intends to prove his innocence.
Davis, of New Castle, Ind., was arrested Aug. 15 outside the second ex-girlfriend's home in Delmont, about 25 miles east of Pittsburgh, after someone called 911 to report a man sleeping in a suspicious vehicle outside, police said. He had a .45-caliber pistol, three magazines of bullets and a box cutter, and the car had a stolen Pennsylvania license plate taped over the Indiana plate on his car, police said.
"With the call to 911 and their quick response, I believe they saved this girl from being harmed," Police Chief Timothy Klobucar said Wednesday.
Davis had created a Facebook profile in the name of another ex-girlfriend, a woman he had raped in Preble County, Ohio, and used it to contact the Pennsylvania woman and her current boyfriend's family, police said.
A week before his arrest, police contend Davis sent the Pennsylvania woman a video of him having sex with her when both still lived in Indiana. The woman "never knew that this video was filmed in the first place and obviously never gave consent to send the video to anyone," a criminal complaint said.
Davis threatened in an e-mail to "send the video to everyone if she did not return to Indiana for him," a criminal complaint said.
A few days later, the Pennsylvania woman received a friend request from a Facebook page Davis created using the identity of his Ohio rape victim, also an ex-girlfriend, police said. Davis — pretending to be the Ohio woman — threatened to send the video to the Pennsylvania woman's current boyfriend if she did not move to Indiana, the complaint said.
Davis, still posing as the woman he raped, then messaged the Pennsylvania woman and told her he would keep the video a secret if she agreed to a "sexy video chat" with her ex-boyfriend over the Internet. Police say the Pennsylvania woman consented to the chat Aug. 12.
The next day, Davis called the woman claiming that his Facebook alter ego had sent him the video and "advised her, in sum and substance, that it may be in her best interest to return to Indiana," the complaint said.
On Aug. 14, nude images of the Pennsylvania woman were sent from the Facebook page to the woman and her boyfriend's mother, police said. Authorities said they have contacted Davis' accuser in Ohio, who confirmed the Facebook page wasn't hers.
The Associated Press generally does not identify people alleging sexual assault.
Davis remained jailed Wednesday, a day after his preliminary hearing on the Pennsylvania charges was postponed until Sept. 7.
His attorney, Matthew Schimizzi, did not immediately return a message left Wednesday by The Associated Press seeking further comment.
Davis pleaded guilty to rape in Ohio this month and is scheduled to be sentenced for that on Oct. 5, according to online court records. He was armed when he broke into the Ohio woman's home last year, handcuffing and then raping her.
District Judge Charles Conway on Tuesday in Pennsylvania ordered Davis to undergo a mental health evaluation and raised his bail from $10,000 to $75,000, over Schimizzi's objection. Davis is charged with stalking, transmitting obscene images, loitering, criminal coercion, carrying an unlicensed firearm and other crimes.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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