JIM THORPE, Pa. (AP) - Two state troopers are headed for trial after a judge ruled there is sufficient evidence to support charges that one illegally accessed an ex-girlfriend’s Facebook account and the second conspired to help him.
A district judge in Jim Thorpe on Wednesday forwarded charges to county court against Trooper Anthony K. Kingsley , 32, and Trooper Erin K. Cawley , 41, both now suspended without pay. Their defense attorneys did not return phone messages seeking comment.
A woman claims she gave her Facebook password to Kingsley while they were having an intimate relationship from late 2015 to July 28, 2016, when it ended the day Cawley confronted her at her home in Jim Thorpe.
At that time, Cawley was pregnant with Kingsley’s child and they were living together, police said.
Police were called and escorted Cawley off the property, according to the arrest affidavit, but it wasn’t until January 2017 that the woman was told that Kingsley had given a multiple-page print-out of private messages she had with a man to the man’s wife.
That prompted the alleged victim to contact police, who say they have evidence Kingsley accessed her Facebook account from a property in Kunkletown.
A search warrant of the Kingsley and Cawley home turned up a text Cawley sent someone in February 2017 that said: “Tony went into her Facebook, she gave him her password months ago and never changed it,” adding that “I do have the texts, legally, that I saved from when she texted me in December threatening to come after me if anything else happens.”
Both troopers are accused of felony conspiracy and summary harassment, and Kingsley is charged with unlawful use of a computer and computer trespassing, both felonies.
“These two state troopers know and understand the law, yet they chose to break into someone else’s Facebook account, steal personal correspondence, and give it to a third party,” said Attorney General Josh Shapiro , whose office is prosecuting the case. “Their behavior was illegal, and my office will hold them accountable.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.