Father, Son Arrested for Harassing Palins: FBI

A father and son have been arrested on charges of harassing the Palin family by phone, an FBI agent tells Reuters. Craig Christy, 47, and Shawn Christy, 19, were hit with a federal indictment on Wednesday over calls made from Aug. 1 to Aug. 9—after Sarah Palin had already gotten a restraining order against each of them. They're accused of causing the "telephone of another repeatedly and continuously to ring, with the intent to harass a person at the called number," according to the indictment, and an FBI rep says Palin's family and attorneys were the ones targeted.

The Pennsylvania men had a hearing in their home state yesterday, during which no bail was set; they’ll be taken to Anchorage for future hearings. Shawn Christy earlier admitted threatening to rape the former Alaska governor and having sent her gifts and emails; his father made phone calls to Palin’s parents in March which were recorded and “very disturbing,” said an official. Shawn has also faced probes for threatening President Obama and John McCain. He suffers emotional difficulties linked to his mother’s Lyme disease while she was pregnant with him, according to a psychiatric assessment. (More Sarah Palin stories.)