2007.06.01: June 1, 2007: Headlines: Recruitment: University Education: Crime: Jurisprudence: Janesville Gazette: Harassment impacts Peace Corps recruiting events at University of Wisconsin
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2007.06.01: June 1, 2007: Headlines: Recruitment: University Education: Crime: Jurisprudence: Janesville Gazette: Harassment impacts Peace Corps recruiting events at University of Wisconsin
Harassment impacts Peace Corps recruiting events at University of Wisconsin
The problems severely impacted a student group for returned members of the Peace Corps, a program where UW-Madison boasts of sending the largest number of graduates of any university. A Peace Corps official in the group's regional office told the court in a statement that Wellstein's harassment forced the group to reduce its recruiting activities on campus, closing events to the public and moving them to other locations. Wellstein said he served in the Peace Corps from 1981 to 1983. A student who briefly met Wellstein at a Peace Corps event in 2004 said she received multiple e-mails and a love letter to her parents' home - even though she never gave him her last name. She said the e-mails stopped but in February she received one out of the blue with a poem titled "Ode to a dead woman." It contained the line: "Put the gun to your head and pull the trigger." She immediately called police.
Harassment impacts Peace Corps recruiting events at University of Wisconsin
Judge: 'Scary man' barred from UW campus for four years
(Published Friday, June 1, 2007 11:51:52 PM CST)
By Ryan J. Foley
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. - A judge barred a University of Wisconsin-Madison alumnus from setting foot on campus for four years on Friday, calling him a "scary man" who repeatedly harassed female students and employees with inappropriate e-mails and other unwanted contact.
"You are a bit of a predator," Dane County Reserve Judge Robert Pekowsky told Albert Wellstein, 51. "I am convinced from this record that this is one of the worst cases of harassment I've seen."
Pekowsky granted the UW-Madison's request for the restraining order after hearing more than two hours of testimony from women who said they felt threatened by Wellstein.
The judge warned Wellstein that violating the order could result in immediate arrest, 90 days in jail and a fine of $1,000. He also ordered him to have no contact with several current and former students and employees whose complaints date back to 2004. Four years is the maximum time for a restraining order under state law.
Wellstein argued that he was simply trying to meet women and he is not violent and does not have mental illness.
Testimony revealed that Wellstein, who graduated in 1980, repeatedly showed up at campus events to strike up acquaintances with female students. He then sent them bizarre e-mails that were often sexual and occasionally threatening in nature.
He kept showing up at the events and e-mailing students even though he was kicked out of three campus groups, barred from student unions and repeatedly warned his contacts were unwelcome and should stop, witnesses said.
The problems severely impacted a student group for returned members of the Peace Corps, a program where UW-Madison boasts of sending the largest number of graduates of any university.
A Peace Corps official in the group's regional office told the court in a statement that Wellstein's harassment forced the group to reduce its recruiting activities on campus, closing events to the public and moving them to other locations. Wellstein said he served in the Peace Corps from 1981 to 1983.
A student who briefly met Wellstein at a Peace Corps event in 2004 said she received multiple e-mails and a love letter to her parents' home - even though she never gave him her last name.
She said the e-mails stopped but in February she received one out of the blue with a poem titled "Ode to a dead woman." It contained the line: "Put the gun to your head and pull the trigger." She immediately called police.
Another former student who met Wellstein through a campus church angrily recalled that she had to change churches because he stared at her during Mass and sent her disturbing messages. She told Wellstein: "What you did was way out of line."
A UW-Madison police detective testified she feared for her safety after receiving a March e-mail from him that read: "I am going to put you in jail or in your grave!"
Acting as his own lawyer, Wellstein asked the judge to reject the request.
"I am a resource to the University of Wisconsin and the state of Wisconsin and not a threat," he said. At another point, he added: "I get along just fine with people."
Pekowsky told Wellstein he was "deceiving himself." He said he initially considered the UW's request absurd because the campus is so large, but witnesses made a persuasive case.
"You don't realize - or you do - how scary you really are to all of these people," Pekowsky said.
Wellstein faces various charges for sending the threat to the detective and a March scuffle with police. He also was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest last week after he refused orders from campus police to drop a baseball bat when they served him with legal papers. He eventually dropped the bat.
Wellstein is out on bail and fighting the charges.
UW-Madison lawyer Benjamin Griffiths said Wellstein's behavior could provoke a "life-threatening incident" with campus police if he returns. He acknowledged the restraining order was a significant restriction but said the university had exhausted its other options.
"I just can't think of any other possible way to control his behavior," he said. "Enough is enough. We've tolerated this for a very long time."
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Story Source: Janesville Gazette
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Recruitment; University Education; Crime; Jurisprudence
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