A Leesburg man jailed for battering his ex-girlfriend has been charged with repeatedly contacting her to get her to drop the case against him.
Jacob William Johnson, 33, was arrested on Oct. 15 for battering his then-girlfriend and issued a no-contact order as a result. On Oct. 23, she reported a prior violation of the no-contact order, which led to Johnson’s bond being revoked. Despite this, he continued reaching out to her from Lake County Jail, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
She gave law enforcement screenshots showing multiple calls from Johnson, including four on Nov. 5 and one on Nov. 6. She had since blocked the jail’s number on her phone to keep him from contacting her, the report said.
During these calls, Johnson repeatedly pressured his ex-girlfriend to write a witness statement taking back her allegations. He wanted her to tell the police that “nothing happened.” His attempts to contact her were persistent, and he tried to manipulate her into dropping the case against him, the report said.
The ex-girlfriend also mentioned he had previously handled her father’s probate case. She had to briefly communicate with him about the matter, but she otherwise avoided contact, the report said.
She added that Johnson’s mother had also tried to facilitate communication between them. When she visited his mother’s house to get her dog, his mother tried to get her to speak with him, the report said.
The ex-girlfriend expressed concern about Johnon’s continued attempts to contact her, as she felt unsafe. She mentioned she had been subpoenaed to appear in court on Nov. 20 regarding the case, as well, the report said.
Johnson was therefore charged with violation of pretrial release. The Ohio native remains at Lake County Jail.