A Cocoa man turned himself in last week for allegedly sending vulgar text messages to his girlfriend’s mother.
On July 18, an officer with the Clermont Police Department responded to an undisclosed Lake County residence regarding a female victim receiving unwelcomed, degrading and possibly threatening text messages on her cell phone, according to an affidavit of probable cause out of Lake County. It was learned prior to arrival that both she and her husband were involved in an incident the day prior, which involved the victim’s adult daughter and her boyfriend, 27-year-old Tyler Daniel Woods.
After arriving at the home and meeting the victim and her husband outside of their residence, they informed the officer about what happened the day prior. It was because of that incident that they believed Woods was now sending inappropriate and unwelcome text messages, the affidavit said.
The victim told the officer that she spoke with her daughter recently which did not end well but was not threatening in nature. Shortly after that conversation ended, she got texts from two unknown numbers which were described as vulgar and threatening. She showed the officer her cell phone and where she wrote back to the number telling them not to contact her anymore, the affidavit said.
The victim further advised that she got multiple texts from two separate numbers she believed had to be from Woods due to the content of the messages. They had specific details of her family life, past and present, as well as the initial incident between her, her husband, her daughter and Woods. She emailed the officer screenshots of the text messages and was told to do the same if she got any more of them, the affidavit said.
On July 19, the victim received another vulgar, inappropriate text message that she emailed to the officer. The officer instructed her to send a message back to both numbers politely asking Woods to stop messaging her, stating it was harassment and she wanted no further contact. He specifically asked her to use Woods’ name to see if they would respond, the affidavit said.
The victim got another message the next day. From the start of all the messages, there was no legitimate purpose to the texts being received. The context of the messages showed they were sent purely to put the victim in an emotional state of distress by means of harassing her. This course of conduct took place over a few days at which point the victim never engaged back with the numbers except to request them to stop messaging her, the affidavit said.
On July 23, the officer spoke to Woods over the phone. He admitted to sending the victim the text messages, saying he was angry and wanted to make her upset. The officer asked why he would continue to send the victim messages that served no real purpose other than to harass her after she asked him to stop, to which he stated he never got any messages from her, the affidavit said.
Woods had the victim’s number blocked so she could not text him, but he could still send messages to her. He admitted that the only purpose was to cause the victim mental distress. He did no physical harm, the affidavit said.
On July 26, the officer went back to the victim’s residence and spoke with her regarding the conversation he had with Woods. He asked her if she would still like to move forward with prosecution as being a victim of harassment to which she told him yes. She stated that the things Woods said and the interactions from the texts had not only placed her and husband in a mental state of fear and uncertainty but also their small children, the affidavit said.
The victim explained that her children were afraid to go out and play in the front yard now because they did not know if Woods would be by the house and what he would do if he saw them. They no longer felt safe inside the residence and got nervous when they heard noises outside or if someone approached the front door, the affidavit said.
The affidavit included a text string between the victim and Woods from July 17 through July 20. The texts repeatedly mocked the victim, her husband and the police. They specifically ridiculed the victim’s appearance but all the parties’ character.
Woods ultimately turned himself in on the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 24, to the Lake County Jail on a warrant charging him with stalking (follow/harass/cyberstalk another). He was released from jail after posting $5,000 bond.