In this Feb. 28, 2019, photo, Christopher W. Cleary, 27, makes a court appearance in Provo, Utah. Cleary s arrest for posting a Facebook threat to kill as many girls as I see fit a pattern of behavior for a troubled man with a history of terrorizing women he met over the internet. Cleary s plea deal with Utah prosecutors fits a pattern of lenient punishments common for cyberstalking and online harassment cases. A judge who is scheduled to sentence Cleary on Thursday, May 23, must decide whether to accept prosecutors recommended sentence of probation. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)
DENVER (AP) – Only hours before women marched through many U.S. cities in January, Christopher Cleary set off a manhunt when he posted a Facebook message threatening to kill “as many girls as I see” in retaliation for years of romantic rejection.
Cleary, 27, called himself a virgin who never had a girlfriend, stoking fears of another deadly rampage by a man blaming women for his problems. When police tracked his cellphone and arrested the Colorado resident at a McDonald’s restaurant in Provo, Utah, Cleary said he had been upset and wasn’t thinking clearly.
The frightening Facebook post fit a pattern of behavior for a troubled man with a history of terrorizing women he met over the internet.
His plea deal with Utah prosecutors appears to fit a pattern of lenient punishments – a common outcome for cyberstalking and online harassment cases.
“The vast majority of people, if there isn’t a lot of training and education going on, tend to dismiss these things,” said Carol Tracy, executive director of the Women’s Law Project in Philadelphia. “That’s why stalking is so dangerous. You think, ‘It’s not a crime. He’s got free speech.'”