A jury has found 51-year-old Raffaela Spone, of Chalfont, guilty on all charges after she sent harassing texts and images to members of her daughter’s cheerleading team in March of last year, according to a report by Jim Melwart at KYW News.
Spone was charged with three misdemeanor counts of cyber harassment of a child and three misdemeanor counts of harassment in March 2021, following a nine month investigation by the Hilltown Township Police Department.
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 alleged 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.
The KYW report states that charges filed in connection with the alleged doctored images and videos were later dropped, as prosecutors could not prove the images were faked. Neither the KYW report nor Bucks County court records have information available regarding sentencing.
To read more about the trial, click here.
Editor’s note: this article will be updated when sentencing information becomes available.
See also:
Bucks County Man Who Shot Dog, Burned It on Fire Pit Sentenced to State Prison
Lansdale Man Sentenced to Prison for Bank Robbery, Attempting to Shoot State Trooper
Lansdale Man Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Possession, Criminal Trespassing and Assault
Montco Man Sentenced to Jail, Probation After Pleading Guilty to Child Porn Possession
