Tampa Police say a 39-year-old man arrested on charges related to Florida's "Revenge Porn" law in February has been arrested again for harassing the same victim.
Colin Speer is accused of stalking, threatening and posting a video of the woman having sex online. He was arrested for the crimes in February. He bonded out of jail the same day and is now in jail again, accused of continuing the illegal behavior.
The victim, who wished to stay anonymous, spoke with ABC Action News about the incidents. She claims the harassment started in 2015 and continued through July of this year. She says it all started with random Facebook messages from people with fake profiles. The messages were so random, she brushed them off.
Little did that woman know, Speer, a friend and former co-worker, was the person sending her the messages.
"We were just friends. He would say things like 'I would like to date you.' But I would tell him we're just friends." She said.
The woman admits the two were intimate one time. She says he secretly recorded that encounter. The woman believes it was recorded using the camera on his computer that she believed was not on.
It was that video that was used in an attempt to extort naked pictures of her. She would receive messages on social media and text messages asking for nude photos. Then she found the video on an online forum called 4chan. Her name and other personal information was posted on the website as well.
"That is used as a reason by others to join on this dog pile." USF Professor Nathan Fisk said. He teaches Cyber Security.
That "dog pile" is exactly what happened. She received numerous messages from fake profiles made by Speer and complete strangers.
Speer also contacted her friends on social media. He is also accused of posting violent threats. One threat said he was waiting to "rape and murder" her.
The victim says she contacted Tampa Police about the crimes being committed, but the case didn't go anywhere at first. She then hired Southern Recon Agency, a private investigation company, to look into the harassment. The information obtained by that firm was passed along to TPD.
Tampa Police confirms Speer was investigated for a similar case by a different agency prior to this investigation. No criminal charges were filed.
Police are asking anybody who believes Speer may have committed a similar crime against them to file an injunction and contact law enforcement.
"I hope this sends a message to other people who would do this." The victim in this case said.
She suggests anyone who is being harassed in this manner to take screenshots of everything, saying it's tempting to delete messages, but you should save them for investigators.
