Posted on 02/04/2002 8:45:16 AM PST by real saxophonist
Posting pictures gets ex in trouble
Story By Sharon Dunn
Boy meets girl. They fall in love. They break up. They move on. Most know the story.
But one Greeley woman's story took quite a bizarre twist.
While she recovers from her stormy five-year relationship with Aaron Schaffer, 32, of Greeley, he is a wanted man.
A Weld District Court judge this week signed a warrant for his arrest for criminal libel, a crime so obscure it typically is a civil concern. But this one is a felony.
The case started one day last May. Kristie Collop was at the Whitehorse Bar in Garden City having a couple of beers with her mother for happy hour.
"Someone came in and said, 'Hey, there's naked pictures on the light post out there,' " the 31-year-old Collop recalled Wednesday.
That flier had pictures of naked women's body parts, and one picture of Collop dressed in lingerie. It also had a note attached to it: "Hi, my name is Kristie. Call me for a good time," as well as some vulgar statements. It gave four phone numbers to reach her.
"I was devastated," Collop said. "I knew right away who did this. I was really concerned about my parents and about what people would think of me. I was worried about my mom because she's been through a lot with him and me."
She said she had a couple of reasons to think Schaffer was responsible. First, when she broke up with him, she said he threatened to do something she'd regret. She also remembers the time that one photo of her was taken, and Schaffer was the only one who had it.
Collop also remembered one time when she saved Schaffer's previous girlfriend from a similar fate.
"A long time ago, he had pictures of his ex-girlfriend," Collop said. "He was laughing with his friend and was wanting to put her pictures up. I found them and cut them up."
Days after the flier about Collop was rescued from the pole, Collop got two phone calls.
"On one, my mom answered the phone and they said something about the pictures, and my mom hung up," she said. "The other left a message on the recorder, saying something to the effect of, 'Hey, loved your pictures.' It was really gross."
The Weld District Attorney's Office has charged Schaffer with criminal libel, a felony punishable by a sentence of one year to 18 months. The current warrant states Schaffer will be held on a $1,000 bond if arrested.
The law states that any person who knowingly disseminates pictures or any statement tending to impeach the honesty, integrity, virtue or reputation commits criminal libel. As with civil law, truth against libel is an absolute defense.
But Schaffer has another warrant out for his arrest for $5,000 since July for a case from the summer of 2000.
According to court records, he failed to appear in court, failed to comply with probation, failed to register for domestic violence classes, and failed to pay costs.
Schaffer pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment for an incident in which he had kicked Collop in the face with a steel-toed boot and kicked in the windshield of her car.
He was apparently in a rage because she had broken up with him and was seeing someone new.
Describing herself as once meek and afraid of Schaffer, Collop said she now vows to press on.
"I will not back down," Collop said. "I've learned a big lesson. I've been in weird relationships in the past, but he took my whole self. I'm barely getting back to who I am."
Crimestoppers
If you or anyone you know has information on the whereabouts of Aaron Schaffer, call Crimestoppers, 353-2847. Information leading to an arrest or conviction could lead to a reward.
She came to my office, and said she was dropping the divorce case, and wanted all of the phtographs back. I didn't try to talk her out of it. I DID retain just one photograph in my files. Neither she nor he noticed that one was still out there.
Sure enough, the wife showed up all teary-eyed a few months later and said, "The [louse] was just conning me." She wanted to reinstitute the divorce.
Eventually, I told the husband's lawyer that I still had one photo of the "happy couple (not the wife)." He and his client settled with dispatch.
Moral of the story: Women in bad relationships want to believe what makes them feel comfortable. They can be conned because they are willing to accept the con. That does not make them bad people. And that certainly doesn't justify the horrendous behavior of their current (or ex-) mates.
Congressman Billybob
Thanks for the sweet offer, hon, but I'm already hooked up with a sweet little Finnish exchange teacher.
Maybe you can find a good time with one of the US troops soon to return from Afghanistan or Bosnia, or possibly their Navy counterparts. The *good folks here* can likely fix you up with a friendly GI or Navy penpal, and maybe you two lovebirds can get something hot going upon his return....
This chick needs to buy a gun, learn how to use it, then invite the guy over.
"If you don't want naked pictures of you showing up on the internet, here's what you do ... DON'T POSE NAKED!!!!!!!!!

Testing my ability to post my own pics
If you think this guy deserves a medal, what would you give O.J. Simpson, a tickertape parade?
Yeah, but it's not like she could say anything.
[come on, fellas... there's your straight line]
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