Man pleads not guilty to stalking, identity theft charges | Front Page
EAU CLAIRE — A man authorities say used technology to stalk a former girlfriend and delete her family photos has pleaded not guilty.
Dillon Ritchie, 31, Spencer, faces charges of stalking, using a computer message to threaten injury or harm, identity theft for financial gain, invasion of privacy by use of a surveillance device, capturing an intimate representation without consent and four counts of computer crimes.
None of the charges is a high-level offense, and only three are felonies. The identity theft charge is a Class H felony, the highest level in the case.
According to the criminal complaint, Ritchie stole a little more than $200 from the woman by using an old, deactivated email to access one of her accounts. He also reset her Apple ID and deleted more than 4,000 photos including, the woman told police, all of her children’s baby pictures.
A text from Ritchie after that happened said “Sory [sic] accident 4K pics disappeared? my bad.”
The invasion of privacy and intimate representation charges stem from an incident in which the woman said Ritchie called soon after she got out of the shower and said she looked beautiful naked. He also seemed to know where she was in her residence. The concern had precedent. After Ritchie moved out, the woman found multiple GoPro cameras around the residence, set to record automatically.
Text messages recovered during the investigation included attempts by Ritchie to keep the woman from contacting police. Another said “I’ll be waiting in Marrill. If you think this ends here it doesn’t.”
Ritchie is next due in court in October.
