The affidavit that established probable cause for arresting Shawn Christy and his father Craig Christy on federal charges of interstate telephone harassment, apparently motivated by their obsession with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has been unsealed.
The affidavit, sworn by Special Agent Jacqueline DeCou, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Anchorage Division and dated Aug. 12, details numerous alleged calls by the Christys, residents of McAdoo, Pa., to the Fairbanks office of the law firm Clapp, Peterson, Tiemessen, Thorsness, Johnson, LLC. In May the firm secured in Alaska court a six-month protective order against the Pennsylvania men for their harrassing behavior.
The affidavit quotes from a recording of an Aug. 2 message Shawn Christy allegedly left Tiemessen. The excerpt is full of vulgarity, threats of sexual violence, threats of kidnapping and ransoming Tiemessen's children, and an anti-Semitic slur. The passage ends with, "So, if you don't want that life, pay me some fucking money now, and I'll be quiet and I'll go away. So you know what you pay me enough money I might even think about fucking Sarah for the hell of it."
The affidavit states that between Aug. 1 and Aug. 9, the Christys called Tiemessen's office line, two members of his family, the law firm's Fairbanks office main number, and several employees of the firm's Fairbanks staff several hundred times total, and that the behavior was ongoing at the time of the affidavit and had begun to affect the firm's Anchorage office.
The affidavit states the Christys allegedly identified themselves in the majority of calls, and in many of them left Pennsylvania-based call-back numbers. Many of the calls also communicated an awareness that the contact was in violation of a protective order. They also allegedly said repeatedly that they intend to come to Alaska.
One message, allegedly from Craig Christy, contains a death threat against Tiemessen, to the effect, "Cause I tell you motherfucker, you're playing with the wrong fucking boy. I tell you what, you want to play fucking games like that, I'll fucking kill you. There's a fucking threat now fucking bring it on motherfucker. You got that? You wanna fuck with my boy like that, I will come and fucking kill you."
Other messages not quoted from contain various other threats against employees of the law firm. One of the firm's legal secretaries stated to DeCou that Shawn Christy had threatened to travel to Alaska and rape one of the firm's attorneys.
The Christys were arrested for allegedly violating a federal law against making telephone calls across state lines with the intent to harass, which is a felony.
Read the unsealed affidavit by following the link below.
Contact Scott Woodham at swoodham(at)alaskadispatch.com