Navy Captain Convicted in San Diego of Cyberstalking Woman Over 18 Months

A U.S. Navy captain was convicted by a San Diego federal jury Friday of posing as his ex-girlfriend online and posting photographs of her on the internet without her knowledge or consent.

Theodore E. Essenfeld served more than three decades in the Navy and is the former commanding officer of the San Diego-based USS Pearl Harbor. He was found guilty of cyberstalking and identity theft counts in connection with social media postings, in which prosecutors say he impersonated the victim and posted photos she had privately shared with him.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that over the course of 18 months, Essenfeld created fake dating profiles using the woman’s personal information and created a LinkedIn account under her name that falsely advertised that she was a professional pole dancer.

One of the fake social media pages was discovered by a relative of the victim, prompting the investigation into Essenfeld, according to the prosecution’s trial brief.

Essenfeld was indicted last year. He is set to be sentenced in September following Friday’s verdict, which the jury returned after less than two hours of deliberations.

— City News Service