In January 2018, Christopher Wayne Cleary of Denver posted a disturbing message to his Facebook page:

“All I wanted was a girlfriend, not 1000 not a bunch of hoes not money none of that. All I wanted was to be loved, yet no one cares about me I’m 27 years old and I’ve never had a girlfriend before and I’m still a virgin, this is why I’m planning on shooting up a public place soon and being the next mass shooter cause I’m ready to die and all the girls the turned me down is going to make it right by killing as many girls as I see.”

Cleary already had an extensive history of cyberstalking. His Facebook threat was reminiscent of “incel” (involuntary celibate) killer Elliot Rodger. Last month, Cleary was sentenced to prison:

A man who posted a Facebook message threatening to kill “as many girls as I see” in retaliation for years of romantic rejection was sentenced [May 23] to up to five years in prison.

Judge Christine Johnson’s decision to keep Christopher W. Cleary, 27, of Denver, behind bars in Utah went against a recommendation from Cleary’s attorney and prosecutors to sentence him to probation so he could be returned to Colorado to serve prison time there for probation violations.

Johnson said the incident clearly warranted prison time and that she didn’t feel comfortable relying on Colorado to keep Cleary locked up. She said Utah’s board of pardons can decide if Cleary should be transferred to Colorado.

Cleary’s Facebook threat came hours before women marched through many U.S. cities in January, stoking fears of another deadly rampage by a man blaming women for his problems. Cleary called himself a virgin who never had a girlfriend. When police tracked his cellphone and arrested him at a McDonald’s restaurant in Provo, Utah, Cleary said he had been upset and wasn’t thinking clearly.

Cleary spoke only briefly at the sentencing, saying quietly, “I’m just sorry for what happened.”

His actions fit a pattern of behavior for a troubled man with a history of terrorizing women he met over the internet. At least eight people since 2012 have contacted authorities to accuse Cleary of stalking or harassing them, according to an Associated Press review of police and court records.

His attorney, Dustin Parmley, said Cleary was ashamed of his actions and has long had issues controlling his impulses to say inappropriate things. He said Cleary had a troubled childhood and was diagnosed with mental health issues at age 10, though he didn’t elaborate. Parmley said Cleary bounced between group homes and mental health hospitals during his childhood. . . .

Among the complaints against Cleary in Colorado were reports that he threatened to bomb a grocery store in 2013 after an employee refused to cash his check; that he threatened to slit the throat of a Denver city employee after his car was towed; and that he threatened a mass shooting at a mental health facility during a 2016 phone call.

Cleary was on probation for a marijuana conviction when, in 2016, he was charged with stalking two 18-year-old women he met online. He was on probation and in mental health court for the stalking cases when he was charged in 2017 with stalking and harassing a third woman who was Cleary’s caseworker. Last year, judges in Jefferson County, Colorado, sentenced him to probation in all three stalking cases.

Cleary also has a warrant for his arrest in Denver, where a 17-year-old told police in 2015 that he sent her a string of threatening text messages, including: “I own multiple guns I can have u dead in a second.”

Cleary never actually committed any acts of violence, but apparently enjoyed frightening people with threats of violence. There was a time in our history where someone like Cleary would have either been permanently locked up in a lunatic asylum or, perhaps, shot dead by the father of one of the girls he threatened. The fact that Colorado was willing to turn him loose on probation . . . Oh, crap. He’s like Deb Frisch!

(Hat-tip: Kirby McCain on Twitter.)









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