INDIANAPOLIS -- Federal prosecutors filed charges of extortionate communication, mail threats and interstate stalking against a North Carolina woman accused of launching a months-long campaign of harassment against a resident of Fishers, Indiana.
In a probable cause affidavit released Tuesday, federal investigators accuse 21-year-old Shamonique Ferguson, of Hamlet, North Carolina, of harassing, threatening and filing false police reports during a period from December 2016 through March 2017.
Ferguson allegedly became Facebook friends with an, at the time, 13-year-old female resident of Fishers in 2012.
Sometime last year, investigators say, their relationship soured – causing Ferguson to begin threatening to harm or kill the girl.
According to the affidavit, Ferguson made more than 20 false police reports against the girl, including false allegations that she was a victim of human trafficking, that she intended to blow up a bomb at three Indiana University campuses, and that she was in contact with Elizabeth Thomas – a Tennessee girl who was the subject of a national investigation following her kidnapping by her teacher.
In all of those cases, police determined the reports were false, and that they originated from Ferguson.
Ferguson is also accused of mailing various items to her victim's family, including an item that contained bodily waste and threats to kill the victim.
“We live in times where the Internet, cell phones, and social media allow for unlimited communication with friends, family, and even complete strangers. Sadly, we also live in times where people abuse that privilege, turning a text message, a web page, or a keyboard into an instrument of fear by instantaneously transmitting anonymous threats,” said United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler in a written statement. “Faced with the risk of large-scale violence, universities, businesses, and individuals cannot simply disregard threats. When an individual elects to threaten anyone in the Southern District of Indiana, in the manner laid out in our complaint, he or she should not expect to forever hide behind the anonymity of the web. What he or she should expect is a visit from federal, state, and local law enforcement, working together to ensure the safety of our citizens.”
Ferguson faces up to five years in prison for each of the three counts filed against her.
