Madeline Desmet is either desperate or severely deranged. When a man rejected her romantic overtures, the 64-year-old started following him around. It got so bad, the man obtained a restraining order. It went ignored.
In December 2011, the man received a strange call from the Seattle Municipal Court. Soon after, an employee from Jared Jewelry called and asked how he planned to pay for a wedding ring Desmet had picked out.
Unbeknownst to him, she had made plans for them to be married by a judge.
During a preliminary hearing, officers testified about the man’s fear. He thinks she has severe mental health issues and is afraid she will turn violent, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. She told the paper that the entire thing is “a bunch of bunk.”
It may be, but Desmet did send the man 57 letters despite admitting that she had received a copy of the protective order. That alone should be enough to violate Washington’s stalking law.
The stalking statute makes it a crime to intentionally and repeatedly harass or follow another person if:
It’s hard to construe 57 letters as anything but intentional harassment when sent to the object of a protective order. And since Desmet admitted to knowing about that order, she can’t claim she didn’t know the man was afraid or felt harassed.
- The person being harassed is placed in reasonable fear of harm; and
- The stalker knows or reasonably should know the person is afraid, intimidated or harassed.
For this behavior, Madeline Desmet now faces up to five years in jail and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
Related Resources:
- Police: Alleged stalker arranged wedding(UPI)
- Stalking (FindLaw)
- Prevent Stalking: January is National Stalking Awareness Month (Atlanta Injury News Blog)
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