Breaking the stigma: Arizona dives into the underreported, often misunderstood stalking issue

By Nathan Hiatt, Grayson Schmidt, Megan Boyanton and Anikka Abbott

When Sydnie Higgins hears her doorbell ring, she sometimes freezes in fear, thinking it might be him.

Higgins, a 28-year-old Phoenix health care worker, went on a few dates with a man in 2011, and, now, seven years later, he is still stalking her.

In September, she told the Tempe Family Justice Commission about her struggle and asked for help because she didn’t know what else to do. During a detailed, nearly nine-minute account, Higgins became visibly upset. She talked about how he makes random appearances on her street, at her house, at her workplace and on her social media message applications.

As tears started to flow down her face, she paused multiple times to say, “Sorry.”

“I feel like it is just never really going to stop,” Higgins said.

Her situation isn’t unique, though.

This serious and potentially dangerous crime can happen to anyone, anywhere, including the Valley, and in any demographic or life situation, domestic violence experts say. Stalking usually occurs when a perpetrator becomes obsessed with someone. It also is underreported and often can be misunderstood because people either aren’t educated enough on the issue, know every possible form of it or its signals.

Data from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, analyzed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers, estimates that stalking affects nearly 8 million people in the United States each year. Also, most cases happen for those between 18 and 24.

Domestic violence experts and law enforcement officials in Arizona say they believe stalking has steadily increased. But there aren’t concrete numbers because stalking reports aren’t separated into specific statistics because they are often mixed with domestic violence cases.

However, at Arizona State University, reported stalking incidents are collected and separated in its annual security and safety report. This report shows reported stalking incidents, jumping from seven in 2015 to 30 in 2017.

Despite an uptick in reported cases throughout the country, finding help isn’t always easy for stalking victims. With new technology, stalkers have more avenues for the crime, police department officials say, adding that technology also makes it a challenge to detect or prove a case.

Arizona has had a few high-level and notable stalking cases throughout recent years, including Jineane Ford, a former Phoenix television news anchor and Miss USA 1980, who was stalked by a viewer. Also, in May, there was Jacqueline Ades, who continues to go through court proceedings. Ades was arrested for allegedly stalking a Paradise Valley man, among other crimes, including texting him 65,000 times, including threats saying she wanted to wear his body parts and bathe in his blood, according to court documents.

Although some things with stalking have changed, Doreen Nicholas, a domestic violence response manager at the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, said one aspect remains the same – victims suffer through extreme psychological effects while they are being stalked and afterward.

Nicholas said it is important to raise awareness about stalking and how serious it can be in everyday life for victims, especially when a stalker isn’t willing to let go.

“We can’t really make a change if people don’t understand the issue, if people don’t understand how disruptive it is to somebody and if people don’t understand how dangerous it can be,” Nicholas said.

A Tricky Process

Higgins agrees with domestic violence experts that the process to seek legal help for stalking isn’t clear-cut for most people.

Stalking is a crime throughout the United States, but legal statutes vary in definition, scope, classification and penalty, causing gaps in possible prevention. Arizona law, most recently revised in 2016, states “a person commits stalking if the person intentionally or knowingly engages in a course of conduct that is directed toward another person and if that conduct causes the victim to” suffer through emotional distress or reasonable fear.

Sidebar: A Process Made Easier

Higgins took her case to Valley police and the courts, but she said she faced challenges at each step within the system. In particular, completing paperwork to file an order of protection wasn’t convenient or financially stable, as she had to miss work.

In addition, the court-issued document doesn’t guarantee her safety and it can expire, which added to her constant anxiety.

Nicholas deals with stalking cases in Arizona and she said victims seek out domestic violence advocacy centers for help. There are various locations in the Valley, including Phoenix, Glendale, Mesa, Tempe and Scottsdale, and, there, a victim advocate will guide him or her through the process. But, for Higgins, it took her awhile to realize she was a stalking victim.

As does Arizona law, Nicholas said that the burden of proof lies with the victim.

“Unless the police have evidence, or the courts have evidence, they can’t prosecute,” Nicholas said. “It is startling enough to be stalked or have your partner show up unexpected someplace, much less to have the presence of mind to pull out your phone to record what they say or take a video of them being there.”

Nicholas said this court process can take several months, though, and forces victims to relive emotional trauma. Additionally, it could further “anger” their perpetrators. But a victim can pursue prosecution. Arizona law states a stalker could face an 8 3/4-year jail sentence in the most serious cases, which don’t involve other attempt crimes.

New-Generation Technology

An uptick in stalking crimes might correlate to advancements with the internet, including social media platforms, police department officials say.

When Jason Flam began his career with the Mesa Police Department more than 20 years ago, he said he felt that law enforcement was always a step ahead of those who used technology and the internet for stalking and harassment.

Now, he said it is a game of catch-up.

“You can’t control how many apps are being created, and what’s the next greatest thing, so it’s difficult,” Flam said.

As a detective in the Special Victims Unit, Flam said he has seen how advancements in technology have put current stalking victims or potential victims at a greater risk.

“I didn’t realize how easily we are tracked,” Flam said. “I didn’t realize how much of our information was out there. I have spent years trying to remove a lot of my information from the internet, and it’s been overwhelming.”

Brian Draper, a detective in the Glendale Police Department, said he finds a challenge in persuading a stalking victim to delete his or her social media or make it private to prevent a common stalking method.

“I can get people to change their phone numbers … I can get people to change their addresses, but what they won’t change is their social media,” Draper said. “I don’t know why, but it’s that piece that people seem to hang on to and don’t want to give up.”

Higgins said she has faced stalking on social media, such as Facebook, as her perpetrator started to use it for information and sent many messages. She hasn’t deleted her social media, but she has tried to block his access.

When victims contact police, Flam said he and other officials tell them to check their phones for anything strange. When the little details are taken for granted, it can open routes for stalkers, including making secret applications, which sometimes can only be found with forensic analysis.

Despite media coverage of stalking cases that have turned violent, he said he doesn’t think all stalking cases go that way.

Flam said technology and social media might be a reason why.

“Because of today’s social media, (stalkers are) able to satisfy their needs by watching what everyone’s posting,” Flam said. “Back in the day, (stalkers) had to hide in the bushes and stalk, but then you couldn’t fill your need to know what that person was up to. Whereas they can now do it from afar, so it has possibly made it less dangerous, but, still, it always has the propensity to be fatal.”

Psychological After Effects

Regardless of whether a stalking experience turns physically dangerous, victims will likely have after effects that cause psychological danger to their minds and well-being.

For Higgins, she said she continues to work through the system while trying to heal. She wants to help prevent others from going through what she continues to endure as well.

However, she still worries about “this nightmare” and what he might do next.

“I am actually in psychotherapy right now, working through some of this anxiety,” Higgins said in an email in November.

Angela Catena, an assistant clinical professor in counseling psychology at ASU, has counseled many stalking victims through psychological after effects from stalking cases.

Catena said the psychological toll on victims depends largely on the stalking level they were exposed to. However, she said that the primary emotion almost all victims deal with is fear.

“With that fear, comes the struggle with trust,” Catena said.

At the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, Nicholas said she ensures stalking victims that they aren’t at fault.

“It is real,” Nicholas said. “… It is dangerous, and it is not acceptable. If anybody talks to us about experiencing stalking, we listen to them and support them. We help them access the resources they need to feel safe again.”

Katie Mabry survived a stalking experience during her nine-year abusive and controlling relationship with her ex-husband in Florida, which ended in 2012. Mabry said he could have faced a 25-year sentence, but, because she lacked concrete evidence in court proceedings, other than a final incident, her ex-husband received five years in jail.

But the effects linger, she says.

Now newly engaged and a Phoenix resident, Mabry continues to deal with the affect effects from her experience, which started with subtle signs. Then, things escalated and grew physically violent.

Mabry remembers the final instance vividly – she battled with him overnight for about six hours on Feb. 5, 2012, before she escaped.

“If I didn’t get out of there at that time, I knew that I was going to die,” Mabry said. “He looked me in the eyes and told me, ‘Go lay down in the bedroom, start praying to God for forgiveness for your sins because you’re going to die tonight.’”

Throughout her experience, Mabry said she always found herself on edge, looking over her shoulder and watching what she said or posted on the internet.

She still does today.

Mabry said she was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for her hypervigilance as she constantly scans her environment. This causes her to still distance herself from some close friends and relationships.

As time has passed, she continues to heal. Mabry said, as a community, it is important to bring education, awareness and support for stalking victims and the crime. She shares her story often, including recently at a social work class at ASU, because she knows other people are going through or have experienced the same situation she has.

It is projected, according to the CDC, that about 17 percent of women and 5 percent of men will experience stalking in a lifetime.

Mabry wants something to change.

“There’s still a lot of people who don’t want to talk about it,” Mabry said. “But the only way that we can work to end things like stalking, domestic violence and sexual violence is by bringing it to light, and educating everybody that this can happen to anybody, and things like this don’t discriminate.”