@import "/css/toolbox_article_bottom.css"; @import "/css/article.css"; @import "/css/wiredcomment.css"; Subscribe Sections Culture Entertainment Gadgets ... RSS Feeds All Wired Product Reviews Magazine HowTo Video Politics Law Cyberstalking Law Invoked Wired News Report It took only three weeks for California's new cyberstalking law to get its first workout. Los Angeles County prosecutors last week brought the first case under the statute against a 50-year-old security guard who allegedly went online to provoke the rape of a 28-year-old woman who had rejected his advances. Prosecutors said the jailed suspect, Gary Steven Dellapenta, posted messages under the unidentified woman's name. The notes, which appeared in America Online chat rooms and on the Net, said the woman had an unfulfilled sexual fantasy of being raped. The posts included her name, address, phone number, and instructions for disarming her home-security system, prosecutors said. At various times since the posts began early last year, six men did show up at the woman's apartment in North Hollywood, police said. They didn't gain entry, however. Dellapenta, first arrested in November, was charged with stalking; using a computer to commit fraud, deceive or extort; and solicitation to commit sexual assault, charges that could bring seven years in prison. Dellapenta has pleaded not guilty and is being held in lieu of $300,000 bail. | |
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