> "Little did I know, this was just the beginning of this campaign of harassment and cyberstalking," said Clayworth
Although the ex-girlfriend was responsible for the initial breakin, email spoofing, and posting of pictures, does the teacher know for sure she's really responsible for the continuing campaign of harassment and cyberstalking. Perhaps someone else is taking advantage of the opportunity for anonymity by supplementing her efforts.
Some people who harass do it anonymously, keeping themselves well hidden. This often also entails watching and monitoring the target closely. When they do say something publicly, it will have two possible meanings so it's all deniable. Often, they'll use their positions of influence to implicitly encourage others to do the hands-on dirty work of slagging publicly.
Yes, we can easily create a slew of alternative explanations.
But the simplest explanation - something that's happened many many times to many people - is that a single person is harassing this guy.
The problem with creating alternative explanations is that some people will start saying things like "Maybe he did something to cause this? Maybe he could have done something different?" And that's a problem, because stalking and erotomania are genuinely scary. It's hard to believe when you're the person that it's happening to, and it's hard to believe for people outside it, but that's why we should be careful not to pin blame onto the victim.
> It's hard to believe when you're the person that it's happening to, and it's hard to believe for people outside it, but that's why we should be careful not to pin blame onto the victim.
That's true, I'm not disputing that. But it's also hard for many people to believe that certain types of people exist who'll hide themselves, watch others, and run a smear campaign without ever showing themselves.
"does the teacher know for sure she's really responsible for the continuing campaign of harassment and cyberstalking. Perhaps someone else is taking advantage of the opportunity for anonymity by supplementing her efforts."
The courts believe otherwise and she cops to the efforts.
Although the ex-girlfriend was responsible for the initial breakin, email spoofing, and posting of pictures, does the teacher know for sure she's really responsible for the continuing campaign of harassment and cyberstalking. Perhaps someone else is taking advantage of the opportunity for anonymity by supplementing her efforts.
Some people who harass do it anonymously, keeping themselves well hidden. This often also entails watching and monitoring the target closely. When they do say something publicly, it will have two possible meanings so it's all deniable. Often, they'll use their positions of influence to implicitly encourage others to do the hands-on dirty work of slagging publicly.