KHQ Right Now - News and Weather for Spokane and North Idaho | New York man accused of stalking arrested in Spokane again

New York man accused of stalking arrested in Spokane again

SPOKANE, Wash. - On Thursday Spokane Police arrested 20-year-old Josh Stetar of New York again, and formally charged him with communication with a minor for immoral purposes, stalking, and harassment.

He's being held at the Spokane County Jail on a $100,000 bond and his arraignment is scheduled for January 30th at 3:00 p.m.

Stetar was previously arrested in December after driving 40 hours straight to Spokane and threatening to rape two young girls he met playing video games online.

When Stetar was released from his previous arrest he remained in Spokane for further investigation. Detectives learned that he might have been attempting to contact the victim again.

It was determined that Stetar posed a threat to the victim and her family. He was taken into custody Thursday and booked after being stopped at Trent and Hamilton.

Police are asking anyone that has seen Stetar in the area of Ferris High School, to please contact the police at 242-TIPS.

Friday night December 29, 2007, Spokane Police investigating a harassment complaint arrested Stetar after he threatened to rape two young girls.

Police investigation revealed that the 15-year old Spokane girl met 20-year old Joshua R. Stetar of Saratoga Springs, New York, while playing an interactive X-Box 360 video game. The game called Halo features the ability to talk to players around the world using a headset.

Police say Stetar and the girl had been talking since 2006, and that several times he had sent packages and flowers to her home, items that her parents returned. The victim had also received several hundred text messages on her cell phone in 2007, forcing the victim's mother to change her daughter's number. However, Stetar was able to get the new number from someone and started sending the victim messages again.

Around 9:30 p.m. Friday night the suspect sent a text message to the victim saying he was driving by her house at that moment. In the message he even described his vehicle, a Gray Oldsmobile. The girl's parents were outside the home and in fact saw the car driving past.

At 9:36 p.m. the victim received another text message from the suspect saying, "Tell the cops that I'm gonna rape you and your sister."

The suspect had also mentioned that he was staying at a Days Inn in Spokane.

The girl's father called in a harassment call to police, who later learned the suspect was actually staying at the Econo Lodge at 120 W. 3rd Ave. Officers found the Oldsmobile Cutlass with New York license plates in the parking lot.

During a police interview the suspect admitted he was able to get much of the 15-year old victim's personal information such as her address and cellular telephone number by "Googling" her name on-line.

Stetar also said he flew to Spokane on October 23rd of this year and rented a U-Haul van to drive by the victim's house. The victim's mom says she was unaware of this visit. Stetar said he lived in New York and drove 40-hours straight to get to Spokane.

Police also learned that during the summer of 2007 Stetar "Googled" information on the victim's cousin who lives in Billings. He harassed the victim's cousin with text messages until police in Billings eventually called him and told him to stop.

Stetar was initially booked into the Spokane County Jail on one felony count of Stalking.