sorry if this post may lack some context, but I’ll try to give what’s needed. A few months ago, I was assaulted (If it matters i’m 19m). That of course is a separate case, however despite filing a report, my case didn’t go far. As I was drunk, i have little recollection of the people involved. At the same time, I was being filmed during my assault. These videos were distributed across my campus and classmates, and ofc I was scared from it all. However, as far as I know, none of them have been posted online. From posting about this situation on other subs, I know about some tools to help find my face if it were to be posted online, but so far nothing has been found.
The only thing that’s been lasting from my assault is this random person continuing to send me random pics of my assault on my social media account (instagram). To date, they have made 11 accounts (might be 12), over a roughly 3 month span, beginning in May. The first three accounts, they deleted before I could do anything with them. But, the next 9, I’ve reported and blocked all of them. This hasn’t seemed to work though because they keep messaging me.
The most recent time messaged me was yesterday. There, he sent me a random photo of me. The photo looks to be like it was from a few months ago due to the outfit I was wearing in it. i never knew this photo was taken from me, and when I asked where it was from, they said they took it. This has me very worried, as it shows that they could potentially be stalking me. on another note, from how old the photo would be, they could have been following me around for a while.
Currently, I’m in Minnesota with my family. And, for reasons besides this person, I am transferring universities to here. However, my university right now, ASU, is located in Tempe, Arizona. (If it isn’t clear, Location: Tempe, Arizona)
I have already reported this person to my school’s title IX coordinators a while ago, however I have yet to report them to the police. I’m very eager to, but I’m scared that given the only information/evidence of have is their messages towards me, the police won’t do much or it wont be taken seriously.
The fact that I’ll have filed a report is helpful in the future, but I want an ends to this all
If they were to investigate the case though, would the person DM’ing me be considered a stalker? would a random photo of me even be considered evidence? also, this may be a dumb question but i should report this to the police in Tempe rather than Minnesota, as that’s where the guy presumably is? Thank you
Comments
This almost certainly violates harassment and/or stalking laws in both Minnesota and Arizona. Of course, a police officer and ultimately a prosecutor would have to review the evidence, but I would argue that somebody sending you images of an incident in which you were assaulted and then following up by sending you a random photo of yourself that you don’t recognize and saying that they took it would make a reasonable person fear for their physical safety. And broadly speaking, that makes it either stalking or harassment or potentially both, regardless of whether the communication is online or through some other means.
Some parts of your post seems to imply that you know who this person is, but other parts suggest that you might not. Do you know the specific individual who’s doing this?
If you know who this person is, collect any evidence you have and definitely contact police, both locally and, if you have any idea, where you think they are. If you don’t know who they are, I would still recommend contacting local police, but they’re going to have to do some investigating to figure out who’s actually sending the messages.