Judge in Arkansas issues order to jail cyberstalker after new accusations

FAYETTEVILLE -- A Virginia man, who was ordered last fall to have no more contact with a woman he had pleaded guilty to cyberstalking, was ordered jailed Jan. 23 by a federal judge in Fayetteville, accused of again harassing the woman on social media.

James Daniel Hobgood, 37, entered a conditional guilty plea in September to one count of stalking. He was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison and was ordered to pay restitution. Hobgood was allowed to remain free while he appeals the findings in his case. Conditions of his release included that he not use social media and that he have no contact with the victim.

Federal law enforcement officials learned that Hobgood had set up a Facebook account, using his father's name spelled backward, to continue contacting the woman, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Denis Dean. Hobgood also wrote several blogs using aliases that criticized the judge and the prosecution in his case, Dean said.

"He hasn't learned anything," Dean said. "It's time for him to begin serving his sentence."

U.S. District Judge Tim Brooks ordered Hobgood jailed immediately. He also ordered the U.S. attorney's office to prosecute Hobgood for contempt of court, and again ordered Hobgood to have no contact with the victim.

Brooks said he would decide later whether Hobgood should be kept in a local jail until his contempt trial or be sent to federal prison to begin serving his sentence.

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The victim in the case contacted law enforcement officials in August 2015, saying she was being harassed by Hobgood, according to Hobgood's plea agreement. The woman told Department of Homeland Security agents that she had met and to some extent become romantically involved with Hobgood while living in Richmond, Va., but that after a short time she rebuffed his advances.

In January 2016, she moved from Richmond to Northwest Arkansas, and Hobgood began to contact her by email, Facebook messages and third-party text messages, demanding that she apologize to him in person, according to the plea documents. When she refused, Hobgood created publicly accessible social media accounts in which he represented her as an exotic dancer and escort, the documents say.

Hobgood's actions caused the woman emotional distress that resulted in her being hospitalized for a short time, according to prosecutors. When agents contacted Hobgood, he told them that he wouldn't stop contacting the woman until he cost her her job, prosecutors said.

Hobgood said the woman should repent for the perceived wrongs she committed against him, prosecutors said. Hobgood admitted sending the woman, her family and her employer communications by Internet, telephone and the U.S. Postal Service, telling them that she was an exotic dancer. He told prosecutors that he wasn't going to stop.

Law enforcement authorities were able to corroborate the woman's claims using Hobgood's cellphone and Facebook histories, according to reports.

Metro on 01/31/2017

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