A Leesburg man was arrested this past week for stalking his wife and violating her restraining order against him after he was released from jail for battery.
Thomas James Shea, 32, was arrested on Jan. 8 for committing an aggravated battery on his pregnant wife and issued a pretrial no victim contact order, according to an affidavit of probable cause out of Lake County. He posted bond the next day and was released from the Lake County Detention Facility.
However, that same day the victim received two harassing text messages from an unknown number giving information about how Shea was doing. Shea also recorded about six videos stating, “I can’t take anymore, the only who I love hates me,” and “I love you.” Other videos included apologizing for not being perfect but trying and stating that he just needed to talk to the victim, but he could not, which made him a monster for wanting to talk to his wife, the affidavit said.
Shea sent the video recordings and Facebook posts to his female friend, a witness, and asked her to send them to the victim. On or about Feb. 2, she forwarded the video and social media posts to the victim, the affidavit said.
On or about Jan. 24, the victim received two more harassing text messages, one of which again gave information about how Shea was doing, from different unknown numbers, the affidavit said.
On March 28, Shea posted a Facebook post stating, “love you with all my heart and my girls kiss them a last time for me. Thank You for everything and hopefully after I rebuilt myself, we can be family again. Because I can’t take this…anymore,” the affidavit said.
On April 1, he posted a Facebook Bubble comment stating, “Happy Easter Babe, Love You and the girls.” He left another Bubble comment on April 7, stating, “like I can’t be in 4 hours,” and one more on April 8, stating, “3 hours at Ford and got the car finally an upside,” the affidavit said.
The victim provided a sworn written statement positively identifying Shea by name and describing the aforementioned actions. She advised the video recordings, text messages, unknown calls and social media posts had been causing her emotional distress. She also confirmed that the witness sent her messages from her husband, the affidavit said.
A detective with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office had a telephone conversation with the witness, and she admitted that Shea asked her to send the videos and social media posts to the victim. She stated that she did not want to be involved in the case or provide a statement. She denied sending the text message conversation from Shea, the affidavit.
A LCSO records check confirmed that Shea had been issued a victim no contact order, the affidavit said.
Shea was ultimately arrested at his residence by LCSO deputies. He was charged on a warrant for simple stalking (domestic) and violation of no victim contact order before being transported to Lake County Jail. Bond was set at $5,000.
