Facebook Records Lead to Stalking Suspect

A Brooklyn Center man’s Facebook and Internet history have led to charges that he accessed a woman’s Facebook account, posted lewd items there and sent her direct messages on Twitter.

The woman told police May 29 that 21-year-old Benjamin Napier Johnson had been harassing her in violation of a protection order served May 16, according to court documents filed last week.

The order prohibited him from contacting her in any way—specifically noting Facebook, e-mail, text messages and other electronic means. Court documents did not say how she and Johnson knew each other or what led to the protection order.

She told police Johnson sent her a text after he was served with the order saying he was going to continue to harass her, Detective Raymond Laudenbach wrote in the criminal complaint.

On May 28, a friend told her that someone had accessed the woman’s Facebook account. She went to the friend’s house and saw a posting from 4:24 a.m. The message had a photo of a naked woman, the woman’s phone number and address and a lewd message saying she was seeking sex.

She said Johnson had also posted a message on her page saying he wanted to beat her up.

The following day she received a Twitter message from Johnson saying he had something for her and didn’t care about going to prison.

Laudenbach got a subpoena to obtain the woman’s IP address for her Facebook account. Information from Facebook showed the account had been accessed from two IP addresses—one a Sprint account and the other a CenturyLink account.

Information from CenturyLink traced that IP address to Johnson’s address. The date and time matched Facebook’s log of when her account was accessed.

Johnson has been charged with gross misdemeanor stalking, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $3,000 fine.

He’s scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m. Oct. 22 to respond to the complaint.

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