2000
Interstate Stalker Sentenced Under Violence Against Women Act
Boston, MA...
A federal judge today handed down a thirty-three month sentence to a New York man convicted of threatening to kill, and then crossing state lines to stalk three Boston residents.
United States Attorney Donald K. Stern and Charles S. Prouty, Special Agent in Charge of the New England Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today that PETER A. NEDD, age 38, of Queens Village, New York, was sentenced by U. S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris on four counts of interstate threats, including threats to kill and rape three members of a Boston family, on dates in October, November, and December of 1999.
NEDD was also sentenced for crossing state lines with intent to engage in conduct which violated a Massachusetts protection order. In addition to 33 months of incarceration, NEDD will serve an additional 3 years of supervised release following his prison sentence during which he will be prohibited from contacting the victims or visiting Massachusetts. NEDD will also be required to undergo psychiatric care and maintain medication for his mental illness.
"This is the first interstate stalking prosecution in Massachusetts under the Violence Against Women Act," said U. S. Attorney Stern. "The victims, who had recorded approximately 80 harassing telephone calls from a man who had been obsessed with their young daughter for more than 5 years, can now walk the streets of this city without fear that the defendant will threaten or attack them."
At earlier hearings, prosecutors told the Court that NEDD met the victims in Boston in the late 1980's through a church group. Soon thereafter, NEDD became obsessed with one of the victims, a girl in her young teens at the time. The threats stem from NEDD's obsession with the child and her parents' efforts to shield her from his advances. After years of calls and letters from NEDD, the victims obtained a state restraining order against him. However, NEDD repeatedly violated that order in 1999 by telephoning them, threatening them, and appearing at their residence in an attempt to visit the young woman.
NEDD was arrested in December 1999, on a criminal complaint filed in this case and has remained in federal custody since that time.
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was enacted in 1994, and amended in 1996, to ensure that persons who cross state lines with the intent to engage in harassing conduct which puts a victim in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or conduct which violates state protection orders, can be federally prosecuted. Before VAWA was passed, local and state law enforcement officials had long been frustrated with individuals who crossed multiple jurisdictions to stalk or otherwise harass their victims.
Victims of interstate domestic violence should call the FBI at (617) 742-5533 or the 24-hour Hotline Network for Women's Safety at 1-800-992-2600. In emergencies, victims should call 911.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney John T. McNeil of Stern's Major Crimes Unit.
