Man Drives 40 Hours to Stalk 15 Year-Old Girl He Met Online in Halo
The emotionally unbalanced loon in question this time is Joshua Stetar. Stetar, 20, was arrested last week in Spokane, Washington, for stalking and harassing a 15 year-old girl and her 6 year-old sister he met online playing 'Halo'. Stetar drove 40 hours, nonstop, across country from his home in Granville, New York, to sit outside the young girls' house and threatened, via text message, to rape her and her sister.
Terrifyingly enough, this was not the first encounter with Stetar that clearly crossed the line. Stetar sent flowers to the jailbait gamer several times over a one-year period and flooded her cell phone with hundreds of text messages. Stetar even flew to Spokane in October to stake out her house.
Apparently Stetar, whose MySpace page is packed to the brim with Bible quotes and homophobic rants, missed the lesson in Sunday school where they explained that stalking, harassing, and raping little girls would not be considered the right thing to do.
The other question here, however, is how Stetar acquired the girl's address and cell phone number. We have to guess she gave that info to him before she knew he was a little less-than stable, but this all proves one thing: Watch who your kids are gaming with online.
From the Times Union
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Reader Comments (Page 4 of 6)
CeCe said 11:02AM on 1-08-2008
Jill, Dee and Abbie, you are so right! At least some parents are living in the real world!
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fartingbaboon said 11:07AM on 1-08-2008
Hey, when I was 26, I had a 15 year old trying to pick me up online. We talked of our troubles with our families and got to know each other reasonably well. I talked to her on the phone and she seemed so immature. I later learned of her sexual escapades with men her mother's age (then-39 and up).... Long story short, I went with the 22 year old I also met in the chat. I'm married to her now and we have a 2 year old son... unfortunately I'm 3,000 miles from my family.
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Longlostbrat said 11:11AM on 1-08-2008
"During a police interview the suspect admitted he was able to get much of the 15-year old victim's personal information such as her address and cellular telephone number by "Googling" her name on-line."
This is a quote from another article about the incident. That little girl did not give that maniac her information.
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kiwifan said 3:37PM on 1-08-2008
someone needs to do a study on how computers have completely screwed up individuals ability to engage with others face to face...
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strawberry said 11:42AM on 1-08-2008
I totally agree this man should be put in prison for the rest of his life, i'm sure he will do this again for the next 40 years. the mistakes we make as human beings are hopefully to be learned. In my household during the school year the computer hours for my children are limited and our computer is where everyone can observe what is on the computer. just don't blame the girl if she was playing the game on line at the time her personal information was possibly given out by a mistake the male being too kind to the 15 year old and her thoughts were just to have fun.
I am so grateful that nothing terrible did not happen to the family, I get so angry when kids are killed or are injured and being left alone because they did not asked to be brought into this world, us as parents should be responsible and protect them.
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tina said 7:36PM on 1-08-2008
i agree with Susan, you also have to trust your kids and let them know that you do trust them but yes explain that there is sicko's out there these days really bad. Most kids are taught to trust but also they should be taught to be leary of people also at the same time. But some kids are to trust worthy and that is not always good anymore. Not this time and age.
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heather said 11:38AM on 1-08-2008
not everybody will look at both sides, i myself am finding it hard to side with either one. yes the girl was the victim but she kind of brought it on herself. and before and one gets their undies in a twist you gotta look at it like this. yes it is an online game and yes she could've had a headset and not given it a second thought or given her phone or last name or whatever. but still even if she could a level headed 15 year old who made one bad choice still, she should've heard all these stories of it happening around her from either her parents her friends or anywhere else there's a flat surface presenting information. you see all this stuff everywhere. you cant honestly be that ignorant and think it'll never happen to you and just brush it off. and no I'm not placing all the blame on her, I'm just saying its as much of her fault as it is his. for a 15 yr. old to not think about this stuff means the parents aren't as doing great as a job as they think they are. and the 20 yr. old boy is as bad as Charles Manson. but in an opposite kind of way. His MySpace is full of bible quotes, there's an immediate sign that there's something wrong with his head. I'm not saying its wrong to tell people your religious and to put it up on you page but to have it all over means that your either a god freak or your a living case of Oxymoronicism. And its not wrong to talk to a 15 r. old if your older then them and its not wrong to be friends i myself have friends old and younger them me but unlike freak-o boy im not gonna go rape them or their relatives because I know better. And where the hell were this guys parents when all of this was happening? no can honestly say 'oh they knew it was happening and they TRIED to do something about it.', trying isn't good enough unless your succesful. i understand that parents cant be on their kids 24/7 and i get that kids wont tell their parents everything, but you gotta raise your kids well enough that they would trust you to tell you stuff like this and not try to keep it a secret. im not saying everybody's wrong and im not saying to kill the internet to keep this from happening but we all just have to be more cautious from now on....
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Bobby said 11:44AM on 1-08-2008
It is everyone's fault. First the Parents for letting her play an "M" Rated video Game. -Second it is the girls fault for giving out her real name. *Who does that??* The Looney which went to the extreme of stalking or even thinking of raping. Crazy individual if you ask me. He has issues, (Stupid Rich Boy) LOL!!!
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tina said 7:38PM on 1-08-2008
i agree with susan, one if you teach your kids right from wrong you have to trust them to some point considering her age. also if you have taught them to use their own judgement you just have to make sure they know that there is really sicko people out there these days. all you can do as a parent is do your best to teach them right from wrong and that they dont need to let anyone know anything that personal about them but if you give their name it isnt to hard to find out the rest and sicko people like that know how to do the research. you can not sit and hold a 15 year olds hand while they play games yes you can check on who they talk to and all that but you still have to show them you trust them at some point.Just really push to be careful because there are sickos out there who like to pray on young kids and try to hurt them even kill them.
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pnkfloyd13 said 11:54AM on 1-08-2008
Yeah this is sad. Hopefully the young girl learned from her mistakes. Parents should always monitor what their kids are doing online. I know some call it invading their space, but wouldn't you rather have your parents invade your space than some 20 year old nut case!!!
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monica said 11:52AM on 1-08-2008
this is for FARTINGBABOON: .. if i met someone online and found out that they were only 15 and i were 26 - that conversation would have ended immediately!! why put YOURSELF in that position for anything to happen? if i found out my 15 year old was even chatting with a 26 year old... that would lead to problems.... dude, you were old enough to end that! unless you were counseling her (with a degree), you were wrong!
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M. G. said 12:01PM on 1-08-2008
ARE YOU F-ING KIDDING ME. THIS "MAN",HE'S NOT EVEN A MAN....THIS IMMATURE FREAK WHO SAYS HE'S A VIRGIN ON HIS PAGE IS CRAZY. AND IF YOU GOT TO RAPE SOMEONE TO GET A PIECE OF ASS YOU REALLY GOT ISSUES. WHY....WHY GO AFTER A CHILD, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG W/THIS WACK JOB?!?!?! HA SHOULD BE LOCKED AWAY NOW BEFORE HE'S ON THE NEWS FOR HURTING SOMEONE...BECAUSE THAT CRAZYS GOING TO DO IT.
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pnkfloyd13 said 12:00PM on 1-08-2008
Look around on the internet and just see how many people actually use their real name as their screen name. And some even include their zip code. Talk about making it easy for someone to stalk you.
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Heather said 12:03PM on 1-08-2008
Anyone else notice that his myspace says he wants to be a CHRISTIAN SCHOOL TEACHER ????
Creepy.
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M. G. said 12:05PM on 1-08-2008
ARE YOU F-ING KIDDING ME. THIS "MAN",HE'S NOT EVEN A MAN....THIS IMMATURE FREAK WHO SAYS HE'S A VIRGIN ON HIS PAGE IS CRAZY. AND IF YOU GOT TO RAPE SOMEONE TO GET A PIECE OF ASS YOU REALLY GOT ISSUES. WHY....WHY GO AFTER A CHILD, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG W/THIS WACK JOB?!?!?! HA SHOULD BE LOCKED AWAY NOW BEFORE HE'S ON THE NEWS FOR HURTING SOMEONE...BECAUSE THAT CRAZYS GOING TO DO IT.
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Lisa said 12:05PM on 1-08-2008
A lot of grown men also play these rpg games as well as some women. The guys talk nasty to the females and cuss a lot. They don't care if it's a kid they are talking nasty to or an adult. The kids copy this kind of talking and have no respect for the females. Please watch your children more closely. There is so much that goes on that you have no clue about.
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M. G. said 12:08PM on 1-08-2008
THIS STORY ON HIM NEEDS TO BE CIRCULATED EVERYWHERE SO HE NEVER GETS A JOB WORKING W/CHILDREN.
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Jennifer said 12:08PM on 1-08-2008
The teaching of values, morals and respect-starting IN THE HOME- are so very important, and not typically found anymore. Extracurricular activities and good positive role models are what help to boost a teenagers self esteem and self worth. When a young girl such as this one is feeling pressures from society to live up to a particular standard and not feeling very good about herself, then attention from a young man is quite attractive. I'm not trying to tell parents how to raise their children, but if you think about it, it makes sense. Morals, values, respect and attention to the child's self esteem are SO key, and something that is unfortunately lost nowadays.
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Lisa said 12:09PM on 1-08-2008
Some of the men as well as some of the boys talk sexual to both sexes. Believe me, you have no clue all that goes on. I have my ignore list filled up and have my chat section turned off when I play. Please don't leave your children alone to play these games.
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Claudia said 12:12PM on 1-08-2008
Hey, did anyone ever think about the fact that this guy probably lied to this girl?? I've read the email about how kids eveyday give out little hints to their personal life without even thinking that someone is going to show up at your door and rape you or even worse. We try and convince our kids that giving out any information about themselves could hurt them...but when they think that they are talking to another kid...it seems that they throw out all caution and tell all about themselves. Kids like to know that they are cool..what kind of sports they are playing...who they play for..what school they go to...what is your number even...What town they live in etc..They have not given their name out..nor their address...or their phone number..BUT, With just that much information somebody can find you! These are the little things that we need to remind them that they are asking. We CANNOT be over our kids 100% of the time, that is impossible! With almost eveyone with a cell phone...a computer..and access from several different places..including school..libraries..and even let's see..well, I'm sitting in Panera bread right now on the internet..there are endless possibilities where your kids are getting on the internet...commnunication is the key...tell them the dangers..show them things like this article..and you know what...TALK to your kids..I'm a parent of three kids...and SEVERAL of their friends say that they wish their parents were like my husband and me...Why? Because we actually sit down and talk to the kids..and we spend time with them..they are only going to be kids once...and that means..we only are going to have the opportunity to be parents once too...take advantage of that..and make a difference..raise good kids!
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