A federal grand jury indicted a Maryland man on one count of stalking after allegedly calling his ex-girlfriend 815 times over 48 hours, according to the Northern District of West Virginia U.S. Attorney's Office.
Derik Wayne Bowers, 44, of Hagerstown, Maryland, is accused of stalking his former girlfriend through text messages, phone calls and Facebook, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"Cyberstalking is a pervasive problem that we treat very seriously in West Virginia," U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld said in a Monday statement.
Derik Wayne Bowers, 44, of Hagerstown, Maryland, is accused of stalking his former girlfriend through text messages, phone calls and Facebook, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. (West Virginia Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation)
Ihlenfeld encouraged "those who are being intimidated online and who suffer substantial emotional distress as a result to file a police report so that wrongdoers may be investigated and held to account."
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Bowers also sent the victim, a West Virginia resident, "thousands" of harassing text messages and used social media to "embarrass her and interfere with her livelihood," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a press release.
Bowers faces up to five years in prison if convicted.