Cyber stalking victims still in constant fear after her tormentor was jailed for four years
'The fear never leaves me': Chilling ordeal of woman bombarded by threats from cyber stalker who terrorised her for months
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When Kristen Pratt opened the message on Facebook from a college classmate, she thought it was innocent enough.
Little did she know that Patrick Macchione was actually a deranged cyber stalker who would spend months turning her life into a living hell.
Miss Pratt, in her early 20s, was bombarded with countless messages on Facebook, chilling threats on Twitter in which he vowed to kill her and 40 phone calls in one five hour period.
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Scary: Patick Macchione posted 27 videos online that were all directed towards Kristen Pratt, with some declaring his love but most were death threats or hints at violence
Still afraid: Kristen Pratt appeared on ABC News talking about how she is constantly looking over her shoulder
Macchione uploaded 27 videos on YouTube in which he stared into the camera with his shirt off and ranted, leaving his victim deeply disturbed.
Unable to take it any more Miss Pratt called the police and Macchione was caught and jailed for four years - but due to time served he could be out in half that.
She has now revealed how ‘the fear never leaves me’ and that she will looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.
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ShareMacchione, 24, will be on 15 years probation but that would be no barrier to coming after her again, she said.
Speaking to ABC News, Miss Pratt said: ‘I feel like it’s not over, it will never be over, I will always have to deal with it.
‘It’s nice to have some kind of closure and it’s a bit less of a burden. At least I know where he is.
Sentencing: Macchione (left) and Pratt (right) were both in court when he was sentenced to four years in prison and 15 years probation, though it is likely he will only spend 2 years inside due to time already served
‘I’m glad I will know where he’s at but at the same time 15 years probation is not that long. He’s free to do whatever he wants.
‘Knowing his mental history, it sounds kind of Hollywood, but he could find me.
‘The fear never leaves me. It’s always going to be there and I’m always going to have to worry about something like this happening.’
Miss Pratt, from Orlando in Florida, said that Macchione first made contact with her in 2009 after they were in the same class at the University of Central Florida.
She said: ‘It was so sudden, just as if somebody was trying to contact they knew from high school: ‘Hi, just wanted to see how you’re doing, how your life is going, you going to college, you working’.
‘(I replied) This is what I am, this is what I’m doing. All of a sudden it got really weird.’
Disturbed: Macchione used every form of social media to contact Pratt and then went on to text and call her up to 40 times in a five hour period
The two were in the same class at Central Florida State University but never met, and Pratt has done everything- include change her appearance- to try to stop the stalking
The harassment quickly escalated to dozens of texts and phone calls every day. Even when Miss Pratt changed her phone number, Macchione would somehow find it out.
She wept in court as the jury were show disturbing Twitter messages on a large TV screen including one which read: ‘It is up to you now to save your life. I have no options. I will not be arrested.’
The 27 YouTube videos he posted included one in which Macchione said he loved her, even though they’d never met. In others he is shirtless and is wearing just a pair of white trousers.
He tells her in another: ‘You should start just listening. First of all, you should meet me, right now. I don't want to be yelling when you are here. I won't be.’
In another of the YouTube videos Macchione pointed his fingers towards the camera in a shooting motion, then did the same with his fingers pressed against his head.
Ms Pratt was visibly upset when the videos were played in the Florida courtroom
The problem became so bad that Miss Pratt actually took out an injunction against him - but he ignored it and continued to harass her.
Macchione was put on trial but it collapsed when doctors said he was suffering from such severe mental illness he was not fit to face a jury.
He has now accepted a plea deal which sends him to jail. Whilst on probation he will be unable to use a computer or he will be jailed for up to 15 years.
Speaking to ABC Miss Pratt said that the effects of his harassment will stay with her for a very long time.
She is still barely able to use email and Facebook and keeps a gun with her for protection.
Her advice for the three million Americans who suffer cyber stalking each year is to just ‘keep going, keep pushing, keep yelling, keep running because at the end there is somebody who can help you.’
She said: ‘Do everything you can to make sure that if you do encounter that person, you can look after yourself.
‘Do everything you can to protect yourself and always know there’s a support system. Your friends are there to help you, your family are there.’
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