Plymouth Man Stalked Girlfriend 2 Years On Instagram: Feds

PLYMOUTH, MA — A Plymouth man was arrested Tuesday after embarking on a bizarre, two-year cyberstalking campaign against his girlfriend, according to federal authorities. Joseph Kukstis, 29, was charged with stalking via electronic means and held in custody pending an arraignment later Tuesday in federal court in Boston.

"Between September 2015 and about October 2017, Kukstis targeted the victim with an anonymous harassment campaign that was intended to cause — and did cause — the victim substantial emotional distress," U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said in a statement.

Lelling alleged Kukstis committed the following acts:

1. "Sending the victim hundreds of degrading text messages, many of which urged her to kill herself
2. Instilling fear in the victim that her harasser was coming to her home
3. Sending private, intimate pictures of the victim to her friends and acquaintances through a 'spoofed' Instagram account he created in the victim’s name
4. Harassing men who Kukstis believed were romantically involved with the victim
5. Attempting to obtain or obtaining unauthorized access to the victim’s social media accounts."

Lelling said Kukstis also sent himself harassing messages that he showed to the woman as a ruse to make it appear he was also a victim of the stalker. Then in January, Kukstis gave up and admitted to the woman he was indeed the stalker, Lelling said. Kukstis allegedly sent the woman an email that said, “it was me the entire time, I hate myself for it.”

If convicted, Kukstis could face up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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