House Arrest For Fmr. Camp Counselor Charged With Stalking Child
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PEMBROKE PINES (CBSMiami) -- A former camp counselor charged with stalking a child faced a judge on Friday.
The now 18-year who was arrested Thursday had been the camp counselor of the then 12-year old boy at a summer camp located at Tree Tops Park in Davie. He is facing one charge of aggravated stalking to the third degree.
The family of both the alleged stalker and the victim were in juvenile court on Friday.
The parents of the alleged victim were in court and asked not to be identified. They both work in law enforcement and said they were glad the alleged stalker turned himself in.
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A judge ordered the alleged stalker to be released on house arrest. One of the conditions of his release is that he stay away from computers unless it's for school.
"The only time you can use a computer is for homework. I don't want it to interfere with your schooling. Do you understand," said Judge Carlos Rebolo.
"Yes sir," responded the alleged stalker.
His attorney tried to shield him during the hearing putting emphasis on his character.
"With the exception of this aberrant incident he's been a model student, a model citizen and his camp counselor, even though some of this originated from the camp, the director of the camp had only glowing things to say about him. This is a child who made a very poor decision," said his attorney.
The alleged stalker will have to be back in court in March for a follow up hearing on his charges.
Pembroke Pines Police said the alleged stalker who was 17-years old at the time, created various fake accounts in order to stalk the child and threaten him for almost a year. The alleged stalker would threaten to harm him or rape him, according to his arrest report.
The situation caused the child to suffer emotionally and even had him afraid of falling asleep at night.
Once police were able to get in contact with the allege stalker, investigators said he admitted to creating a fake profile on KIK messenger app in order to speak to the child and to send the child threatening messages.
When asked why, he said he was "just bored," the report states. He also told police he had "no intentions of meeting the victim or doing any sort of harm to him but just wanted to scare him."
Detectives said through their investigation they found computer searches that caused concern like stalking for beginners, how to ruin someone's life, pedophiles guide, and brink of a psychotic breakdown
It is unclear if the alleged stalker will be charged as an adult or juvenile. That is up to the State Attorney's Office.
