Man arrested for stalking girls via Halo
A New York man by the name of Joshua R. Stetar was arrested Friday for stalking two young girls, a 15-year-old and her sister, he met while playing an unspecified title in the Halo franchise. Stetar, 20 years old, had discovered the girl's address by searching online and had been sending flowers and other packages -- which her parents returned -- to her home since they first met online in 2006. Stetar had apparently driven 40 hours straight from his home in Saratoga Springs, New York to the girl's home in Spokane, Washington, where he drove by her house and sent her threatening text messages. According to the Associated Press, the girl's parents were outside the home at the time and saw Stetar driving past. They wrote down Stetar's license plate number and called the police, who later tracked down Stetar at a hotel and arrested him. He has since posted the $10,000 bond and was released on Saturday.
A disturbing story to be sure. Let this be a reminder to the parents out there to utilize the 360's parental controls and keep an eye on what their kids are playing.
[Via Gaming Today. Thanks YGZ Kentucky and Foolio]
Read - Detailed report from KHQ
Read - AP report via KOMO
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
OwlBoy @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:06PM
You are REALLY late to the party on reporting this one :)
DjDATZ @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:11PM
Meh, they were off for the holidays like the rest of them. Give them a break. There's only Rich and Dustin, they can't handle everything the second it breaks...
Larry *not allowed to say cheevo* @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:11PM
I saw this Monday, I thought you guys were to happy go lucky to make a comment on this psycho! Too bad the parents didn't teach them to not give out their address on the internet. Can't believe they let this freak go.
PeacefulOutrage @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:53PM
Yeah, this could happen to anyone on any social networking site. Posting personally identifiable information is not smart. I am glad the women are okay. This guy has serious issues. I wouldn't be surprised if he's on medication.
DjDATZ @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:13PM
This guy is a n00b at stalking. For fucks sake, if you're gonna stalk someone, do it secretly and not openly. Idiot.
(Not saying I have any experience [except on Facebook ;)] but just judging from common sense...)
Chester @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:22PM
A 20 year old, stalking a 15 year old? LOSER!!!!
Eddie @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:26PM
So... is it still ok to get pissed and tell a kid "You little 15 year old girl! I'm gonna stalk you til your parents get me arrested!" during a particularly heated match of swords in lone wolves? Too soon?
xenocidic @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:30PM
Why would the girl give him her phone number in the first place?
xenocidic @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:32PM
or put it on the web , as TFA indicates ? or give him her real name?
Adam @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:36PM
Girls play Halo?
Man I underestimated this game...
SuiXide @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:55AM
I lost my wife because she cheated on me with someone she met playing Halo 3. NEVER underestimate the invisible power of Halo.
Tony @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:48PM
The most confusing thing to me is that this guy had $10,000 to post bail.
xenocidic @ Jan 2nd 2008 4:54PM
You typically only have to post 10% or something
zlionsfan @ Jan 2nd 2008 5:35PM
Depends on where you are. In some places, you either post the full amount or pay a bail bondsman 10% to post it for you, so you're out that 10%. In others, you can post 10% cash yourself ... although I'm not sure a 20-year-old with $1,000 cash is any less surprising than a 20-year-old with $10,000 cash.
Glad they caught the guy.
Boff @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:50AM
I was just thinking "Shit! Stalking must be a well paid job!"
I hope he went down to Da Kine Bonds in Hawaii to see The Dog for the money! Dog would put him back on the rails. Jesus speaks to The Dog directly. Praise the Lord.
Keith @ Jan 2nd 2008 5:02PM
here he is
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=143928951&albumID=0&imageID=12417995
Killswitch On @ Jan 2nd 2008 5:31PM
A little weird but he doesnt seem like a psycho. Well, with the exception of going to see the girls. But who knows what theyve been telling him. Im sure there are two sides to this story. He is 20 but sure looks near 15.
Ndray13 @ Jan 2nd 2008 5:11PM
My question is:
Why are the parents allowing their under age kids to play Halo or anygame on Xbox live?
Minor's should not be allowed to play on Xbox Live. There are sick sick sick people out there who are just waiting for a oppurtunity to terrorize young people.
Crap like this is going to wreck everything for the rest of us that follow the rules or at the very least the age requirements on video games or have the brain power not to give out personal information.
Amber @ Jan 2nd 2008 10:56PM
Wtf? I'm a minor and I play XBL, because I'm not stupid enough to give my information out. People like YOU are going to ruin it for people like ME who aren't stupid enough to give out info by spouting retarded comments like "BAN TEH MINORZ".
Zeus the God @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:46AM
You act as if Xbox LIVE is special People are out there playing PC games all the time, and thats where the REAL freaks are. Hell, I have 5 30 year olds on my Xfire friends list... Not saying that they're freaks, but people on PC can actually DO something. Most people on Xbox LIVE are kiddies, that can't do much.
DaMan09 @ Jan 2nd 2008 5:46PM
Did they have recon armor?
Ndray13 @ Jan 2nd 2008 5:47PM
Killswitch: Explain to me what a psycho is supposed to look like? Are psycho's supposed to a have a tatoo on thier forehead?
Yeah there are two sides of the story and we are only hearing the one side. The guy is 20, and the girls are underage. That is all we need to hear!!!!
The guy should be in jail where he can passed around like currency and maybe get stalked by America's finest criminals.
Larry *not allowed to say cheevo* @ Jan 2nd 2008 5:56PM
What this story doesn't tell you is that the threats he was making were to "Rape you and your sister". Now, maybe that was just in Halo... since youngsters seem to used that phrase without actually knowing it's meaning.
Maybe he was going to rape them in halo... Takes the teabagging to a whole new level.
john paul @ Jan 2nd 2008 6:36PM
Children shouldn't even be playing this game in the first place...but whos stopping them: NOONE
(actually though i did start playing halo CE when i was 14)
Dean Tripp @ Jan 2nd 2008 6:53PM
Wow, When I first read this story I figured the guy was from Washington, but after reading I realized he's from Saratoga Springs, that's like 15 miles away... He made a really long drive to Washington but you have to blame the parents as well, their kids gave away their phone number, a quick google search gives you an address, name, everything you need for stalking, I mean 15 year olds should be intelligent enough not to give such information away.
wickedpheonix @ Jan 2nd 2008 8:28PM
FFS why would you give your phone number or address or something like that over XBL?! Cue the "she deserved it" arguments... and yes parental controls exist for a reason.
Anticrawl @ Jan 2nd 2008 9:37PM
I hope someone beats that kid, clearly she didn't learn not to talk to strangers or respect her parents enough to listen when they said that. Either way it's bad parenting involved here. Watch and beat your kids people! Be parents, get involved in what they are doing or atleast monitor them. For gods sake you could atleast ask what they've been up to.
Hmm, though you guys should worry about that stalker. As soon as he gets back in the slammer they will beat the fuck out of the guy. Pedophiles don't last long in jail.
Anticrawl @ Jan 2nd 2008 9:39PM
You shouldn't* worry about the stalker I meant. Yeah the other criminals will take care of him.
Zeus the God @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:47AM
Maybe she should get raped... That will teach her a lesson. As long as shes not a fatty or extremely ugly, I'm up to the task...
Jokes, jokes...
mattclarkie @ Jan 3rd 2008 5:10AM
I think you could probably be arrested for such comments. Now days there is no such thing as a joke, no matter how obvious it is that you are kidding. Everyone is a pervert.
Hey you, what are you doing in the kiddies department.
I have to walk through it to get to the Mensware.
Pervert, arrest that man.
DjDATZ @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:46AM
Beat your kids! Anticrawl FTW!
And yea...he won't last long in jail...even people in jail know not to go after minors.
mattclarkie @ Jan 3rd 2008 4:43AM
If this started in 2006, then it is so obviously Halo 2. Why are you using the Halo 3 logo? What a bunch of n00bs, I'm gonna stalk you like a l33t, and pwn you so bad.
lol, even stalking can be made funny with that ridiculous online speak.
JakubK666 @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:18AM
n0 y(_)o teh n()()b , giv m3 ur 4dr3ss s0 i c4n s74lk u.
Imo considering what a promiscuous bitches nowdays teens are I wouldn't be surprised if it was her to seduce him.
I'm not defending a pedophile/stalker as he deserves to go to jail, but think outside the box.
PS: I'm not saying all girls are like that.
Just the majority.
PS2: Interesting opinions, from somebody who's a teen himself :)