Burnsville Man Charged with Defamation, Stalking

A Burnsville man has been charged with illegally posting a Craigslist ad in his ex-girlfriend’s name and posing as the victim in online conversations with other men.

Daniel Edward Walsh, 29, faces one count of criminal defamation and one count of stalking, each of which carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, the 28-year-old victim complained to police in early August that a man had come to her home in Farmington, spoke to her daughter and asked for the victim by her first name.

When the victim’s daughter told the man that her mother was ill, the man left, but the next day the victim saw a man drive slowly past her house seven times, then park down the street. The victim and a neighbor approached the man; the man asked for the victim by name, and when she told him that was her name, he asked, “You have no idea who I am, do you?”

The man told the victim that he had responded to a Craigslist ad that read, “Sick of my BF, w4m, 27 (Farmington),” and which included a photo of the victim. The man said he had had an e-mail conversation with someone who he thought was the victim, and who gave him her address and asked him to come to her house on Aug. 2.

The victim told police that she hadn’t created the Craigslist ad, and that she suspected Walsh, her ex-boyfriend, of doing it out of spite.

Police executed administrative subpoenas with Yahoo and Comcast, and learned that Walsh had set up the phony Yahoo e-mail account in the victim’s name, according to the complaint.

The victim told police that when she and Walsh broke up, he harassed her by sending numerous text messages in which he called her a “gold digger, a horrible mom and a worthless piece of [expletive].” When she threatened him with a restraining order, the text messages stopped.

Police spoke to Walsh on Sept. 14. He admitted harassing the victim online, placing the Craigslist ad, opening up the Yahoo e-mail account in her name and having online conversations with an unknown man, with whom he set up a meeting time at the victim’s home, the complaint says.

Walsh told police he was drunk at the time and that he regretted his actions, according to the complaint. He told officers that he was jealous because the victim was getting back together with an ex-boyfriend.

Walsh is scheduled to make a first appearance on the charges Feb. 6 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.