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| Wed, 08-02-2006 - 9:59am |
City woman's online suitor faces charges
Police: N.J. teacher threatened to harm her, 4-year-old daughter
By Brian Liberatore and Jim Wright
Press & Sun-Bulletin
BINGHAMTON -- A few weeks after answering an online personal ad, a 23-year-old Binghamton woman was on the phone with police fearing for her safety and the safety of her 4-year-old daughter.
The man she befriended online, William J. Friend of Plainsboro, N.J., was arrested Friday after allegedly telling the First Ward woman, via the Internet, that he would come to Binghamton and harm her and have someone rape her 4-year-old daughter while he watched, police said.
Friend, 43, has been charged with making terrorist threats and distributing obscene material to persons over age 18.
Police did not identify the woman. Plainsboro is a suburban township near Princeton.
"There was some type of transaction ... which somehow went awry," Plainsboro police Lt. William Kugel said Tuesday.
Police said the woman and Friend, who is a special-education teacher and assistant wrestling coach in the South Brunswick, N.J., school district, had been chatting for a few weeks after connecting on craigslist.com, a uncensored Web site where people can post a message or advertise for almost anything.
Friend sent bus tickets to the woman so that she and her daughter could travel to New York City to meet him. But the woman changed her mind after receiving them.
Friend, via the Internet, then demanded payment for the unused tickets, police said. When the woman refused, Friend allegedly threatened to come to Binghamton to harm her and have someone rape her child while he watched.
The woman called Plainsboro police to report the incident. Plainsboro police contacted Binghamton police who took a report and forwarded copies of the instant chat messages to Plainsboro officials.
Kugel said the charge of distribution of obscene material stems from several graphic remarks that Friend made regarding the alleged rape threat.
"Distribution of obscene material we tend to think of as some physical thing,'' Kugel said. "However, obscene material can ... also be a narrative account.''
Friend has taught in the district, located about 40 miles southwest of New York City, for nearly eight years, according to New Jersey state Department of Education records. His salary was listed at $55,960 as of October 2005.
South Brunswick school officials said little about the arrest Tuesday.
Superintendent Gary P. McCartney said allegations involving a district employee are given a "comprehensive review'' and appropriate actions are taken when necessary.
Police said Friend, whose bail was set at $25,000, was jailed at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center after his arrest but was released Saturday.
Friend could not be reached for comment.
