‘Bring you down.’ Washington woman poses as man to send threats to officials, feds say
A 60-year-old Washington woman was convicted by a federal grand jury for cyberstalking a man she met on a dating website, federal officials said.
Kathy Ann Hendrickson of Walla Walla was convicted on Wednesday, Feb. 16 for threatening and harassing a Montana man, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Montana said in a news release.
The two met on a dating website in 2015 or 2016, but the man broke things off after meeting several times, the news release states.
Hendrickson began sending threatening messages to the man in 2018 through an anonymous email, prosecutors said.
“I’m going to bring you down,” Hendrickson is accused of sending the man. She also called the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office and said the man had been threatening her, the release states.
Defense attorneys for Hendrickson told McClatchy News they do not have a comment, citing the open case.
The woman hacked into the man’s email and began sending “nasty messages” to his friends and herself, which she reported to the sheriff’s office, the release states.
She posed as the man and sent threats to public officials and the former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, according to the release.
“You are the worst Governor for our state. Do us all a favor and leave. Maybe best if you were terminated permantly. A gun, which I have many will do the job. Be aware of your surroundings,” she wrote in the email pretending to be the man.
She also emailed “Your going to die” to two county commissioners and a receptionist, the news release states.
Investigators seized her phone and found evidence she had been harassing and stalking the man, the news release states.
“Hendrickson stole the victim’s personal information, hacked into his email account and then used her cell phone as a weapon to threaten and harass not only the victim but also public officials. Predators who try to hide their true identity on the internet to stalk innocent victims will be held fully accountable,” U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said in the release.
Hendrickson faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
She will be sentenced on May 26 in Missoula, Montana.
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 3:03 PM with the headline "‘Bring you down.’ Washington woman poses as man to send threats to officials, feds say."
