Hilltown Township Police have announced the arrest of a 50-year-old New Britain Township woman who stands accused of harassing multiple juvenile females who were members of a Doylestown-area cheerleading group.
According to the criminal complaint, Hilltown Township Police were contacted by a resident on July 8, 2020, regarding their juvenile daughter being cyber bullied for approximately one month. The parent of the victim stated their daughter had been receiving both phone calls and text messages from a blocked number telling the victim to kill herself, along with doctored and edited images and videos from the teen’s social media accounts that had been modified to make her appear nude, drinking alcohol and vaping, police said.
Police said the images and videos appeared to be modified akin to “deep fakes,” and all correspondence was sent through free text and call apps that assign random or new phone numbers to the host line, according to the complaint. Investigators were able to secure search warrants for several communication companies, however, and police were eventually able to trace the communications back to a home along the 100 block of Tartan Terrace belonging to 50-year-old Raffaela Spone, the report states.
On Dec. 18, 2020, investigators retrieved mobile phones, a Facebook Portal, laptops, an Xbox gaming system, a modem and various other electronic equipment from Spone’s home, according to the complaint. Several days later, two additional parents came forward to report that their juvenile daughters had received similar messages from anonymous numbers, in which images were modified and similar claims were made about drinking, smoking and vaping, the report states.
Investigators later determined that Spone and the three victims had a shared connection to one another via the cheerleading group, according to the complaint. Additionally, the results of the analysis of Spone’s phones, laptops and equipment allegedly provided digital evidence that Spone was the person responsible for sending the texts and making the calls, police said.
On March 4, Spone was officially charged with three misdemeanor counts of Cyber Harassment of a Child – Seriously Disparaging Statements and three misdemeanor counts of Harassment – Communications, Repeatedly in Anonymous Manner.
Police said the charges against Spone were filed via summons, and court records indicate that her next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on March 30 at 2 p.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Regina Armitage.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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