Guy Used Craigslist Sex Ad to Harass FBI Agent: Feds

In further proof that no good ever comes from Craigslist sex ads
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 12, 2015 11:51 AM CDT
Guy Used Craigslist Sex Ad to Harass FBI Agent: Feds
This photo of a computer screen shows a list of Craigslist ads, including several for drugs, in New York, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A Pittsburgh man has been indicted on charges he stalked and harassed an FBI agent who had once investigated him by posting a fake Craigslist sex ad that included the agent's phone number and address. The interstate stalking charge against 47-year-old Frederick Banks was unsealed this week. A federal magistrate has ordered Banks jailed until trial. The agent isn't named in the indictment and is identified only by his initials, T.P. He has since transferred to the Tampa, Florida area, where the Craigslist ad was posted June 25. The ad identifies the poster as a "married white boy" who is seeking a male sexual partner for himself and his wife, described as a "blonde gorgeous girl next door type." The ad, which says "all races welcome can play anytime," resulted in the agent getting two phone calls in response, prosecutors said.

The agent worked in Pittsburgh and helped investigate Banks before he was sentenced to five years in prison for a 2003 case in which he sold bogus and pirated computer software online, authorities and court records said. Banks was later convicted in a 2004 case of trying to buy coins and other valuables online with bad checks and sentenced to an additional five years and three months in prison. He was released from prison in 2013 but was sent back for 14 more months after he violated his probation by opening foreign exchange accounts using stolen identities, court records show. US Magistrate Judge Keith Pesto ordered Banks jailed given his recent criminal conduct "coupled with the very different character" of the Craigslist ad. (More stalking stories.)

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