Landlord accused of cyberstalking tenant, putting sex ads on web
The young woman was terrified when men unexpectedly started showing up at her home, looking for sex and telling her they were responding to her ads on Craigslist.
Now federal prosecutors say she was being stalked — in bizarre and dangerous ways — by her former landlord in Palm Beach County, a man whose advances she had resisted.
The woman, who was 24 at the time, went to law enforcement after someone repeatedly posted ads that offered sexual encounters with her.
The ads were made to look as if she had posted them and featured what authorities say is a porno-
graphic image of an underage teen as well as the victim’s home address, work address and her email.
“Multiple individuals began showing up at her residence … at all hours of the night,” prosecutors wrote in court records.
The men thought they were showing up for sex with a willing participant. Investigators said the young woman, referred to only as “Victim 1” in court records, feared for her life.
The woman had rented an apartment in Lake Worth for a while, starting in November 2011, then moved to West Palm Beach before fleeing to Alabama in November 2012 after someone emailed her claiming they had just finished downloading a sex tape of her on YouTube. She reported the issues to police in early November 2012.
“Victim 1 fled to Alabama and changed her phone number, because she felt unsafe, and was under substantial emotional distress due to the ads. The person sending the messages and ads appeared to know everything about her. Victim 1 feared that she would be raped or killed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Lothrop Morris wrote in court records.
But the problems followed her to Alabama.
About 50 similar Craigslist ads were posted from November 2012 to June 2013. The ads invited men to her Alabama address but were posted in South Florida, authorities said.
Prosecutors declined to comment about the case, and court records offer no explanation why the investigation took so long. The woman’s former landlord in Lake Worth was eventually indicted on federal charges in August.
Magdy Zekry Boutros, also known as Mike, 50, of Lake Worth, has pleaded not guilty to one federal charge of cyberstalking and harassing the woman across state lines when she lived in Alabama. That offense carries a maximum punishment of five years in federal prison.
He also pleaded not guilty to three charges of possession and distribution of child pornography linked to what authorities say is a pornographic image of an underage teenager they say he used in the Craigslist ads. Those offenses carry potential punishments of five to 20 years in federal prison. His trial is scheduled for January in federal court in Miami.
Boutros’ motive, prosecutors hinted, was revenge.
The woman told investigators she had told Boutros that she wanted privacy after it became clear he was watching her and her guests’ comings and goings via security cameras on the property. Boutros made advances and tried to kiss her, then made her feel uncomfortable when she leaned away from him and politely declined, she told investigators. She moved out soon after that.
Prosecutors say they plan to present evidence from two other women, referred to only as Victim 2 and Victim 3 in court records, whom investigators believe Boutros also stalked.
Victim 2 is another former tenant at Boutros’ Lake Worth property. She told investigators in October 2013 that someone also posted Craigslist ads offering sexual encounters with her after she rebuffed sexual advances from Boutros.
Victim 3 is a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier who delivered Boutros’ mail. Investigators say Boutros also stalked her, created email accounts in her name and posted online ads using her name and address.
Boutros faces no criminal charges linked to those two women, but prosecutors say they will provide relevant information and show a pattern of behavior that help tie Boutros to the allegations regarding Victim 1.
Defense attorney Tama Kudman said Boutros has been wrongly accused and is vigorously fighting the charges. She said his life and his business have been destroyed by the allegations.
“My client was phenomenally kind to [Victim 1],” Kudman said. “He cared about her and he was concerned about her. There’s just no motive here to harass or hurt her … and there’s certainly a lot of reasonable doubt here.”
Kudman said his defense will include raising credibility questions about the alleged victim, who she said has a history of substance abuse and was asked to move out of the Lake Worth apartment in part because of the number of people who were visiting her there.
The defense also disputes that Boutros possessed the child pornography image and further argues that there is no proof the image is either pornographic or depicts an underage child. Kudman described it as an art photo of what appears to be a young woman.
The defense also says Boutros’ ex-wife is a legitimate suspect and claims she has posted harassing Craiglist ads that solicited sex for her ex-husband.
Boutros’ ex-wife, Barbara Boutros, said in a phone interview that she never posted any inappropriate Craigslist ads posing as her husband or any of his former tenants. She said officials told her not to comment because she may have to testify in the criminal case.
“No, I did not do it. I do not have an attorney. I do not need one because I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said.“I didn’t do anything crazy like that. I’m normal. I would never ruin someone’s life.”