NSFW
David Waldman was arrested on June 1 after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York charged him with cyberstalking and transmitting interstate threats in connection with a four-year cyberstalking and threats campaign directed at a woman who he dated for four months in 2014.
Following his arrest, Waldman, 49, of Inwood, was detained on the grounds that he posed a danger to the community. Around two weeks later, a federal judge ordered him to be detained pending trial.
The federal criminal complaint against David Waldman
According to the criminal complaint and other court records, Waldman has a law degree and works as a compliance manager in New York. He met the unnamed victim through on online dating website in November 2013. She works at a financial institution. They dated briefly, and Waldman started sending her harassing and threatening electronic communications shortly after they broke up in April 2014.
Waldman sent the victim hundreds of emails, text messages, and voicemail messages over the next four years.
On April 8, 2014, Waldman sent the victim an email with the subject line “fuck faced fucker”. He wrote: “i am not too proud to show the fuck up at your apartment unannounced. . . . i am crazy enough to do it, too. you should know that. I am not playing around anymore.”
“women like you come around once, twice. maybe three times in a lifetime. that means you are rare. and valuable. and something to be kept and cherished. and cherished can mean held hostage and bound and gagged inside my apartment.”
Later that day he sent her an email stating that he was going to contact her father and send him her lingerie. Waldman mailed a letter to her parents that same month.
On April 9, 2014, Waldman sent the victim a series of text messages including a threat to kill himself:
“I’m coming over tonite for a hug and some free sodas. Don’t bother saying you don’t love me…you do. We are in love. And i am NO quitter.”
“I am not doing well. Thinking of taking 100 xanax.”
Waldman is charged in state court
In April 2014, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office charged Waldman with aggravated harassment in New York City Criminal Court. The court issued an order of protection prohibiting Waldman from having any contact with the victim. The case was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal in July 2014, and the court issued a one-year order of protection.
In July 2014, Waldman sent the victim an email using the pseudonym “Robert Roma” but the subject line was “blast from the past” and it was obviously from Waldman. In the email, he complained that she had gotten him arrested, begged her to contact him, and accused her of killing her ex-boyfriend, among other things:
“the law should never be invited into personal shit. never. nothing good would ever come of it. you must know that. i’ve already forgiven that dick detective.”
“I FUCKING LOVE KLONNIES”
“that was my third trip to jail . . . I am becoming a badass thug . . . soon, i’ll have street rep, yo!”
Waldman also created a number of blogspot pages targeting the victim with names like “nycitysux” and “eurotrashroyalty”. He sometimes posted under the pseudonym “Anton Phillipe Wolfgang Van Sertima”.
In a post from July 2014, Waldman stated:
“if you were to die tonite i would actually smile. . . i hope you sweat yourself to death tonite.”
“i dig on vendettas and dig on revenge. . . . i will ruin you. i will fuck up your shit to the point that your life will be unrecognizable.”
“i am obsessed with fucking up your shit. and i always achieve the things i put my mind to.”
In September 2014, Waldman sent a series of emails to the human resources department of the victim’s employer. The emails contained allegations of drug use, theft, and libel, among other things.
Waldman is charged a second time in state court
In December 2014, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office charged Waldman with criminal contempt and stalking. He pled guilty to the contempt charge and was sentenced to a program and a conditional discharge. The court issued a new five-year order of protection.
According to the federal complaint, Waldman “continued to create harassing and threatening blog posts about the victim in 2015, 2016, and 2017.” His blogs included the victim’s name, her employer’s name, photographs of her, and the name of the man she dated after she broke up with Waldman.
In 2017, the victim started to receive threatening emails sent using anonymous email services. Some of the messages included anti-Semitic slurs and threats to assault, rape, and kill her. For example, on October 8, 2017, “Ingrid Rand” sent the victim an email with the subject line “i’ve watched you run.” The email stated: “you look screwy. you stick your butt out and it looks strange. while you will be dead it is not for the way you run even though i hate it. we are neighbors almost. the internet is large but the world is small.”
Other emails were sent using the names “Jim Bottis” and “Steve Wexler”. The government claims that at least one of the emails was sent by Waldman.
When federal agents searched Waldman’s apartment on the day of his arrest, they found a large hunting knife, a lock-picking kit, and diaries that included instructions on concealing IP addresses and posting anonymous blogs.
The government does not allege that Waldman ever acted on his threats.
Waldman pleads guilty in federal court
Waldman pled guilty to one count of cyberstalking on August 22. He also agreed to pay the victim $54,599 in restitution. Waldman is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Katherine Failla on January 22. He faces up to five years in prison.
Waldman is currently detained at the Westchester County Jail.