HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 04-15 Apple Valley dad accused of posing as a woman to get close to teen STAR TRIBUNE A-StarTribune
Apple Valley dad accused of
posing as a woman to get close to teen
Article by:Chao Xiong
Star Tribune
April 15,2014-9:45 PM
A 44-year-old Apple Valley man created a fake Identity to befriend his daughter's 18-year-old
friend who had a restraining order against him,according to charges filed Monday.
Robert R.Russell posed as Jessica Rosemary to communicate with the teen on Tumblr and
Facebook.He faces one count of violation of a harassment restraining order in Ramsey
County District Court.
Russell used a random residential address in Mason City,Iowa,as Jessica's home and drove
there to send the woman a package,the complaint said.
According to the complaint:The woman became friends with Russell's daughter in 2012.
Russell"eventually professed that he had feelings for[herj beyond friendship."
In September 2013,a judge signed a harassment restraining order barring Russell from
having contact with the woman through September 2015.
On Oct.1,2013,a person claiming to be Jessica contacted the woman on Tumblr.The two
began talking,and on Oct.11 the woman e-malled"Jessica,"who also requested to be
friends on Facebook.
Jessica provided the woman a phone number with an Iowa area code and a Mason City
address.Jessica mailed gifts,including a stuffed animal,clothes,a Valentine's Day card and
chocolates,to the woman's home in Maplewood.The woman sent a Christmas card and a
package to Jessica in Mason City.
This January,the woman witnessed a car accident and called Jessica to talk,the charges
said.Russell answered and the woman thought he was Jessica's father.Russell insisted that
he was Jessica.The two spoke for a few minutes until the woman realized it was Russell,the
complaint said.
Russell admitted to police that he created the false identity because he loved the woman and
her absence caused him panic attacks,the complaint said.He bought a phone with the Iowa
area code and had calls forwarded to his cellphone.He picked an Iowa address for Jessica,
and arranged with the real homeowners to pick up packages the woman sent to their home.
He called them saying his daughter had mistakenly sent the package to their address,"the
complaint said.