Stalking, Cyberstalking and
Violent Crime
Lyndel Williams
Training Director
Texas Association Against Sexual Assault
Stalking and Pop Culture
“Be My Slave”
I want you to be my slave!
I got you under my spell!
You'll never live to tell
If you don't serve me well
Then you'll go straight to hell
You live for my command
You'll serve at my demand
You're kept like an animal in a cage
The victim of my unruly rage
[Chorus]
I've got you under my spell!
Be my slave, be my slave
You'll never live to tell
Be my slave, be my slave
If you don't serve me well
Be my slave, be my slave
Then you'll go straight to hell
I'll force you on your knees
You'd better aim to please
I keep you locked up and I have
the key
In bondage I'll keep you, you'll
never get free
I paid a decent price, yeahYou were on sale and you looked
kinda nice
But you've been acting up lately
You just don't know your place
I'll just fix that with a slap in the
face
“It’s not easy to describe the fear you
have when you see the stalker, or signs
of the stalker, everywhere you go, I
have given up all hopes of ever having a
safe life. For the rest of my life, I will be
looking over my shoulder, expecting to
see him there.”
“Sometimes I unlock my car and find
a rose on the seat-no note, just the
rose. Somehow he got into my car
and left it there; it’s all he needs to
do to terrorize me.”
“It’s going to take a bullet put in my
head before people understand how
serious this is.”
-Statement made by a stalking victim made about one
month before she was killed by her stalker in January
2003
The Peggy Klinke Story
Texas Penal Code
Section 42.027. Stalking
§ 42.072. STALKING. (a) A person commits an offense if the
person, on more than one occasion and pursuant to the
same scheme or course of conduct that is directed
specifically at another person, knowingly engages in
conduct, including following the other person, that: (1) the
actor knows or reasonably believes the other person will
regard as threatening: (A) bodily injury or death for the
other person; (B) bodily injury or death for a member of
the other person's family or household; or (C) that an
offense will be committed against the other person's
property;
Texas Penal Code
Chapter 33.07
ONLINE HARASSMENT. (a) A person commits an
offense if the person uses the name or persona of
another person to create a web page on or to post one
or more messages on a commercial social networking
site:
(1) without obtaining the other person's consent; and
(2) with the intent to harm, defraud, intimidate, or
threaten any person.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person sends an
electronic mail, instant message, text message, or
similar communication that references a name, domain
address, phone number, or other item of identifying
information belonging to any person:
Online Harassment
(1) without obtaining the other person's consent;
(2) with the intent to cause a recipient of the
communication to reasonably believe that the other
person authorized or transmitted the communication;
and
(3) with the intent to harm or defraud any person.
(c) An offense under Subsection (a) is a felony of the
third degree. An offense under Subsection (b) is a Class
A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a felony of
the third degree if the actor commits the offense with
the intent to solicit a response by emergency
personnel.
Changes to the Penal Code
 Code now includes dating partners
 Stalking can now be enhanced to a second degree felony
for a repeat offense, if the prior offense occurred in
another state
 SB82 clarifies different acts (e.g. leaving a note, following
the victim) can together constitute acts that are part of
the “same scheme or course of conduct.” Previously
argued they were 2 different courses of conduct
 The evidentiary change to CCP 38.46 is probably the most
meaningful change. To prove stalking, you have to prove
not only that the victim was actually in fear, but also that
a hypothetical reasonable person in the same
circumstances would be in fear
Stalking In Texas
• The two most reported stalking acts were repeated phone
calls and having things stolen
• Victims are likely to be under 35 years of age
• Asians showed the highest rate, followed by Hispanics
• Victims are likely to be single/never married
• Stalking victims are likely to be acquainted with the
offender
• Stalking is often preceded by violence. Of those who
previously knew the offender, 61.6% reported prior
violence
• Only 43% of victims reported the incidents to police
(Stalking in Texas, Crime Victims Institute)
Stalking Behavior
“Stalking behavior” is defined as one or more of
a constellation of behaviors that:
(a) are directed repeatedly toward a specific
individual (the “target”)
(b) are experienced by the target as
unwelcome and intrusive
(c) are reported to trigger fear or concern in
the target
Stalking Behavior
 2/3 of stalkers pursue their victims at least once per
week, many daily, using more than one method
 78% of stalkers use more than one means of approach
 Weapons are used to harm victims in about 20% of
cases
 Almost 1/3 of stalkers have stalked before
 Intimate partner stalkers frequently approach their
targets, and their behaviors escalate quickly
[Journal of Forensic Sciences 51, no. 1 (2006).]
Effects of Stalking
All studies indicate stalking poses a serious
mental health threat to victims:
•
•
•
•
•
•
86% reported a change in personality (Hall (1998)
83% Reported heightened anxiety (Pathe and Mullen (1997)
74% Reported chronic sleep disturbance (Pathe and Mullen (1997)
55% Reported excessive tiredness (Pathe and Mullen (1997)
48% Reported appetite disturbance (Pathe and Mullen (1997)
47% Frequent headaches (Pathe and Mullen (1997)
Risk Markers for Stalking Violence
 Strong evidence:
 Threats
 Prior intimate relationship
 Not psychotic
 Substance abuse
Risk Markers for Stalking Violence
 Moderate evidence:
 Criminal history
 Violence history
 Young age
 Low education/IQ
 Revenge motive
 Not delusional
Risk Markers for Stalking Violence
•Little/no evidence:
•Personality disorder
•Gender of victim
•Hallucinations
•Victim of child abuse
•Employment status
Threat Assessment
• Have there been:
• Prior threats of violence
• Pursuit or following
• Emotional outbursts or rage
• Mental illness
• Substance abuse
• Possession or fascination with weapons
• Violations of protective orders
Threat Assessment
 Some high risk factors:
 Sexual intimacy between the victim and the
stalker
 Offenders past history
 Symbolic violence
 Threats to kill
 Suicidal threats or thoughts
 History of stalking
Characteristics of Stalking Victims
• Gender
• 78% women
• 22% men
• 94% of the stalkers identified by female
victims and 60% of male victims
identified their stalkers as male
• Overall, 87% of the stalkers identified
were men
Characteristics of Stalking Victims
• Stalked by Race
• American Indian/Alaskan Native 17%
• Mixed race 10.6%
• White 8.2%
• African-American 8.2%
• Asian/Pacific Islander 1.8%
• Age: on average, victims were 28 years of age
when first stalked
Prevalence of Stalking
 A NIJ & CDC survey indicated that:
 8% of women (1 in 12)
 2% of men (1 in 45)
 31% of female victims of intimate partner
stalking, report that they had been sexually
assaulted by their stalker
 81% of stalking victims who were stalked by an
intimate partner had been physically
assaulted by their partner
 In 2010 6.6 million individuals age 18 and over
were stalked in one year in the United States
Reasons For Not Reporting
• Didn’t think it was serious enough 72%
• Didn’t know the incident was a crime 44.6%
• Thought police wouldn’t think it was serious
33.6% Is this a true statement?
• Thought they lacked proof 25.9%
• Feared reprisals 15.3%
• Didn’t know how to report the incident 10.8%
• Didn’t want other people to know 8.9%
What To Do If You Are Stalked
• As early as possible tell him/her the
relationship is over
• Be as firm and direct as possible
• Avoid using tones or phrases that could be
misconstrued as implying a second chance
or playing hard to get
• Avoid all contact (no phone calls, counterharassing behavior, sending letters back)
Stalking Victim’s Priorities
• Being informed about whether anyone
was arrested
• Being involved in the decision to drop
the case
• Being informed about the defendants
earliest release from incarceration
• Being heard in decisions about the
defendants release on bond
• Making a victim’s impact statement for
PSI’s or parole consideration
Dangers Stalkers Pose to Their
Victims
Both intimate partner assault and stalking are
strongly associated with lethal and near-lethal
violence against women, especially when these two
perpetrator behaviors occur together and the
perpetrator is a former intimate. Not all stalking and
threatening behaviors pose an equal threat.
Following and spying on the woman, threatening
messages on the victim’s car; and threats to harm the
children were associated with two, four, and nine
times, respectively, greater likelihood of
attempted/actual femicide.
(American Journal of Public Health 1089-97 (2003))
Stalking and Intimate Partner
Femicide
 76% of intimate partner femicide victims have
been stalked by their intimate partner.
 67% had been physically abused by their
intimate partner.
 89% of femicide victims who had been
physically assaulted had also been stalked in
the 12 months before their murder.
 79% of abused femicide victims reported being
stalked during the same period that they were
abused.
[McFarlane et al., (Stalking and Intimate Partner Femicide,” Homicide Studies 3, no. 4 (1999).]
Reports to Law Enforcement
• 54% of femicide victims reported
stalking to police before they were
killed by their stalker
• 46% of attempted femicide victims
reported stalking to the police before
the attempted murder
Tools of the Stalker
•
•
•
•
Contacting family, friends, employer
Disabling vehicles
Taking mail from the mailbox
Trying to obtain private information (using
police)
• False allegations
• Photography
• Trespassing
Tools of the Stalker
 Gifts and/or cryptic notes
 Vandalism
 Surveillance
 Constant communication
 Harassment tactics:




Disruption of services
Harassment of family members
Threats of violence
Threatening and/or harming family pets
Tools of the Stalker
• Animal Cruelty:
A survey of 50 of the largest shelters for
battered women in 49 states and the
District of Columbia found that 84.5% of
women and 63% of children entering a
shelter reported incidences of pet abuse in
the family
Survey of Sheltered Women
vs. the Community
Sheltered
Community
Pet threatened
70%
16.7%
Pet harmed or killed
54%
3.5%
Child witnessed pet abuse
61.5%
3.3%
Stalking Technology
Tracking via GPS
• As of 2005 the vast majority of cell phones in
the U.S. have GPS technology per FCC
regulations.
• Besides the victims phone the offender may buy
another phone and hide it in the victims car to
track her.
• If the offender and victim have joint custody of
a child the offender may purchase a phone and
either give it to the child or hide it in the child’s
possessions.
Services description
 Online tracking – real time object tracking.
 Travel history – get tracking data for the selected time
interval.
 SMS notification – geo-fence entering/leaving/crossing
notifications, which you will receive on your cell phone.
 Email notification – geo-fence control zone
entering/leaving/crossing notifications, which will be sent
your Email.
How to Start
Account Overview
Spy to Mobile
Account Settings, Reports
and Geo-fencing
Track Settings
Detecting and Protecting
• Signs that your phone has been
invaded:
• You seem to have trouble shutting it off, or it
stays lit up after you’ve powered down
• The phone sometimes lights up when you
aren’t making or receiving a call, or using
any other function
• You regularly hear odd background noises or
clicks when you're on the phone
• Set message life spans
• Set time limits for your messages to be read before they expire
and are deleted. Can be set to delete text after it is read.
• Recall messages
• Regret sending that text? Quickly remove it from the
recipient’s device before—or even after—he or she opens it.
• Delivered / Read Status
• Don’t waste time wondering if they got your message.
Automatically know when your message has been delivered to
the phone you’re sending and when the message has been read.
• Encrypt texts in transit and at rest
The Boss, the worlds first TORcertified Android Smart Phone
The Boss phone’s price starts at $275 going all the way up to $355. “The Boss
phone will have rooted Tor encryption for your privacy,” the Boss phones should
be shipped at some point in October 2015.
Tracking Key
 Potential users of the Tracking Key:
 Spouses: To validate or dismiss suspicions of infidelity
or undesirable, habitual behaviors.
 Records:
 Routes traveled
 Arrival address
 Duration of stops
 Records vehicle location with 2.5 meters
Tiny 3" tracker fits almost anywhere
Web-based system lets you view your tracker's realtime location online
Instant location alerts sent via text message or e-mail
5 days of rechargeable battery power
Web-based system lets you view your tracker's realtime location online
iShot Hidden Video Camera with
Recording (DVR)
Smoke Detector Day/Night Hidden
Camera
Uses:
As A Nanny Camera
To Monitor Your Home Or Office
For Private Investigators
Catch A Cheating Spouse
Keep An Eye On Your Kids When You're Not
Around
Caller ID Spoofing
SpoofCard Features
•
Caller ID Spoofing: SpoofCard's caller ID spoofing technology
allows you to set any number to display on the caller ID of the
person you're calling.
•
Call Recording: SpoofCard features free call recording so you can
record all your phone conversations and download them from the
SpoofCard web site or listen to them over the phone at any time. This
feature is great for everyone from prank callers to salesmen!
•
Voice Changing: SpoofCard also features a free voice changer
option that allows you to change your voice to sound like a man or
a woman on the phone. All you have to do is speak in your normal
voice and the called party will hear you in the changed voice with no
delay!
Spoof Card
“Swatting” Police
KEYSWEEPER
 KeySweeper is a stealthy Arduino-based device,
camouflaged as a functioning USB wall charger, that
wirelessly and passively sniffs, decrypts, logs and
reports back all keystrokes from any Microsoft
wireless keyboard in the vicinity.
 All keystrokes are logged online and locally. SMS
alerts are sent upon trigger words, usernames or
URLs, exposing passwords. If unplugged,
KeySweeper continues to operate using its internal
battery and auto-recharges upon repowering. A web
based tool allows live keystroke monitoring.
KEYSWEEPER
For complete instructions on how to build a KeySweeper: http://samy.pl/keysweeper/
Stalking and Social Media
 Social networking sites can provide information:








Your name or nickname
Martial status and whether you have children
Sexual orientation
Hometown
Schools attended
Religion
Education
Interests: music, movies, television, books and hero's
 Once entered these answers go public, stalkers can
then gain access to site members
Stalking and Social Media
 There are search tools that can simultaneously pull
personal information about the same person from
different sites:
 Stalkerati
 Profilesnoop
 Link view
 These sites allow visitors to trace a user’s Internet
Protocol (IP) address and even physical addresses
using Goggle maps.
 Although these sites have been recently shut down it
is safe to assume others have popped up.
Remote Administration Software
RATs
 A remote administration tool (a RAT) is a piece of
software that allows a remote "operator" to control a
system as if he has physical access to that system.
While desktop sharing and remote administration
have many legal uses, "RAT" software is usually
associated with criminal or malicious activity.
Malicious RAT software is typically installed without
the victim's knowledge, often as payload of a Trojan
horse, and will try to hide its operation from the
victim and from security software.
RATs
 RAT Trojans can generally do the following:
 Log keystrokes, keystroke capture software
 Change the desktop wallpapers
 Downloads, uploads, deletes, and rename files
 Destroys hardware by overclocking
 Drop viruses and worms
 Record and control victim's screen remotely
 Record video with a connected webcam
 Record sound with a connected microphone
 Control mouse or keyboard
 Steal passwords, credit card numbers
Stalking and Social Media
Data Brokers
Data Brokers
 How is the info mined:
 Victim rents an apartment
 Get’s utilities turned on
 New cell phone number used to obtain
credit
 Changes address on drivers license
 Have you ever Googled yourself
 Have you ever paid to see what information is
available on you
Data Brokers
 Where does the information come from:
 Experian sells a list of names of expectant families
and newborns
 Datalogix has lists of people classified as "allergy
sufferers" and "dieters.” Acxiom sells data on
whether an individual has an "online search
propensity" for a certain "ailment or prescription."
 Walt Disney also responded and described sharing
even more information: not just a person's name
and address and what they purchased, but their
age, occupation, and the number, age and gender
of their children.
Search Engines and Data Brokers






Some of the information available from these data
broker sites may include:
Full name (and aliases)
Physical addresses (current and past)
Marital status
Telephone number (and past numbers)
Date of birth
Other personal information including mortgage info,
employment status, and possible relatives
Data Brokers
 Acxiom, recently profiled by the New York
Times, says it has information on 500 million
people worldwide, including "nearly every
U.S. consumer.“
 After the 9/11 attacks, CNN reported, Acxiom
was able to locate 11 of the 19 hijackers in its
database.
Types of Stalkers
Simple Obsessional
• Category represents 70-80% of all stalking
cases
• Virtually all domestic violence cases involving
stalking fall under this category
• Characteristics of this type of stalker:
•
•
•
•
Socially maladjusted and inept
Emotionally immature
Often subject to feelings of powerlessness
Unable to succeed in relationships by socially-acceptable
means
• Jealous bordering on paranoid
• Extremely insecure about themselves, suffers from low self
esteem
Simple Obsessional
•
•
•
•
Self-esteem is often closely tied to their relationship
Self-esteem is bolstered by domination of partner
Their greatest fear is the loss of their partner
When deprived of their partner they feel their life is
without worth
-Most dangerous type of stalking case!
Will literally stop at nothing to regain their “lost
possession”
-Most likely category to result in a murder: “If I can’t
have you, nobody will.”
(Zona and colleagues' (1993))
Types of Stalkers
 Erotomania:
 Stalker believes he/she is loved by the victim
(delusional)- not trying to establish a relationship
 Object of affection is usually of a higher status and
can be a complete stranger
 Efforts to contact the victim are common
 Males (forensic samples) come into contact with
the law during misguided pursuits to “rescue” the
victim from imagined danger. Females are seen in
clinical samples.
(Zona and colleagues' (1993))
Love Obsessional





Represents about 20-25% of all stalking cases
Casual acquaintances, co-worker, or a complete stranger
Includes celebrity stalking (David Letterman, Madonna, etc)
Most suffer from a mental disorder (Schizophrenia/Paranoia)
Most are unable to develop normal relationships so they
retreat to fantasy relationships
 They attempt to live out their fantasies and expect victim’s
to play their roles
 May attempt to force victim to comply with use of threat
and intimidation
Love Obsessional
 If they can’t have a positive relationship, they
will settle for a negative one
 May murder victim in a twisted attempt to link
themselves to the victim forever
(Rebecca Schaeffer-Robert Bardo)
 Factors which enhance risk:
 Excessive number of letters
 Stated intention/evidence of directed travel to
encounter the victim
 Duration of one year or more
False Victimization Syndrome
 This occurs when an individual attempts to convince
others that they are being stalked to re-establish a
failing relationship and/or gain attention.
(Zona, Palarea, and Lane, 1998)
 Individuals who exhibit these characteristics may also
fit the criteria for histrionic personality disorder (DSMIV, 1994): demanding to be the center of attention,
shallow expression of emotions which shift rapidly,
and speaks in a manner that is overly impressionistic
and lacking in detail.
 Rare occurrence
Nonpsychotic vs. Psychotic Stalkers
Nonpsychotic:
 More prone to surveillance
 Significantly more likely to threaten
and physically assault their victim
 Violent assault were perpetrated
against prior sexual partners
 More likely to possess a weapon at the
time of the stalking
Nonpsychotic vs. Psychotic Stalkers
 Psychotic Stalkers
 Less likely to assault his victim
 Less likely to possess a weapon at the time of
the stalking
 It was surmised that Nonpsychotic stalkers
show a far greater propensity for
intimidation and violence than the
psychotic stalker and are more calculating
and resourceful in their use of violence
Status Quo
Any change in the status quo raises
the threat level!
 High risk times:
 When protective order is served
 Following arrest
 Upon any contact with law enforcement
 Stalker losses his job
 Disconnect phone
Orders of Protection
In…situations and in circumstances
where normal and rational individuals
want to avoid further legal problems
protective orders provide a valuable
sanction for the victim’s welfare and
peace of mind…{but, a} protective order
is merely a piece of paper that carries
only as much force and effect as the
offender attaches to it.
(Wallace & Kelly, 1995, p.108)
Orders of Protection
• Keep you protective order with you at
all times (copies at work, with a friend, in
your vehicle)
• Inform family, friends and neighbors that
you have a protective order in effect
• Call the police immediately if the
protective order is violated
• Plan alternate ways to keep yourself safe
Suggestions for Increasing Safety
 Documentation: keep record of all stalking/harassing
behavior
 Cut ties with prior associates, friends, and family
involved, associated or known by the offender
 Devise a safety plan
 Establish escape routes
 Choose pre-determined places to meet
 Pack a survival kit
 Extra clothes, toiletries, prescriptions, cash, food, etc.
 Protective or custody orders
 Credit cards or checkbook
 Disposable cell phones
Suggestions for Increasing Safety
 Don’t hesitate to ask for help (in public)
 Inform people: family, employer, neighbors and coworkers
 Install dead bolts, lock all windows and place a
dowel in sliding glass doors
 Utilize a private mail box service (not with USPS)
 Install outdoor lighting
 Trim hedges
 Locks on fuse boxes and fence gates
 Firearms?
 Dogs
Suggestions for Increasing Safety
 Vehicle safety:
 Keep your gas tank at least half-full and
have a locking gas cap
 Keep your car locked at all times
 Be cautious of valet parking
 Visibly check car prior to entering
 Vary your routes
 If followed drive to a Police or Fire Station.
Sound the horn to attract attention
Lyndel Williams
Training Director
Texas Association Against Sexual Assault
6200 La Calma, Suite 110
Austin, Texas 78752
williams@taasa.org