Convicted stalker returns to court
NORRISTOWN >> A Berks County woman with a prior conviction for stalking a Lower Pottsgrove man violated her probation by posting comments about the man on Facebook, as well as threatening messages directed at the judge who presided over her case, according to testimony.
Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill, after a hearing on Thursday, determined Sharlene Andreyko’s conduct on Facebook was a violation of his March 2014 order that prohibited her from posting anything on social media about the victim. County Probation Officer Eric Weir testified he viewed the inappropriate messages on Andreyko’s Facebook page on Sept. 27, 2018.
“If I were vindictive, I would be a serial killer. Gasp...And (a reference to the Lower Pottsgrove man) would be at the top of my list for initiating this out-
rageous pack of lies,” Andreyko, 59, of the 200 block of Lenape Road, Bechtelsville, wrote in one Facebook post, Weir testified.
In another Facebook message, according to testimony, Andreyko wrote, “I’d love to give Steven O’Neill, Judge last rites but I’m not a priest.”
O’Neill was the judge who presided over Andreyko’s stalking case.
In a violation notice, probation officers accused Andreyko of posting “threatening messages directed at the judge who presided over your case, as well as your former psychiatrist, on a public social media website.”
Weir testified that upon seeing the posts probation officers immediately questioned Andreyko, who also was once accused of harassing a Mercury editor, about them.
“She did not deny them. She said they were not threatening. She acknowledged she had written them. She said this was her constitutional right to post on social media whatever she wants about whoever she wants,” Weir testified, adding Andreyko failed to conduct herself in a manner that would not create a danger to the community.
Assistant District Attorney Stanley Konoval argued the posts were a violation of Andreyko’s previous sentence.
“There was to be no contact between her and the victim in this case. The defendant admitted to authoring these Facebook posts,” Konoval argued.
Defense lawyer Saul Solomon argued Andreyko didn’t intend to threaten anyone and that she wasn’t well at the time the posts were made.
“Give her a chance to get better someplace other than in the Montgomery County prison,” Solomon argued.
O’Neill deferred sentencing Andreyko for the violation until a later date, directing probation officials to conduct a presentence investigation that will include mental health evaluations and recommendations. Andreyko will remain in the county jail while awaiting sentencing for the violation.
“We’re going to see what kind of resources Berks County has. That’s where her original residence is and so she’ll have to receive treatment there,” said Assistant District Attorney Cara McMenamin.
“Everybody in that courtroom does have her best interests in mind and we do think it’s pretty clear that she does need some treatment so whatever we can do to get her treatment she needs I think is what we’re on board for,” Konoval added.
In March 2014, O’Neill ensured Andreyko, who had a prior conviction for stalking the Lower Pottsgrove man and his wife, would be under the watchful eyes of court officials for more than a decade on new charges she continued to stalk the couple and also harassed an editor of The Mercury.
At that time, O’Neill sentenced Andreyko, then 54, to 21 months already served to 23 months in jail, to be followed by 12 years’ probation, on charges of stalking, harassment and making false statements on a questionnaire to purchase a firearm in connection with June 2012 incidents. The sentence, part of a plea agreement, meant Andreyko would be monitored by court officials through 2026.
O’Neill imposed a multitude of restrictions on Andreyko, who, according to testimony, was previously diagnosed with a delusional disorder. Those restrictions included evaluations by a psychiatrist to determine if she was in need of inpatient treatment after she was released from jail and “intensive psychiatric outpatient treatment.”
When Andreyko eventually returned to reside with her husband, the home had to be free of all firearms and weapons, the judge said.
With the 2012 charges, authorities alleged Andreyko harassed the Lower Pottsgrove couple and their relatives through additional letters and attempted to purchase a gun from a shop at Zern’s the same day then Mercury editor Nancy March received a threatening letter from Andreyko.
In the correspondence sent to The Mercury, Andreyko, who previously proclaimed she was called upon by the “Holy Spirit” when she harassed and stalked the Lower Pottsgrove couple, allegedly wrote she was angry with the newspaper for publicizing her previous arrest and conviction.
In March 2014, O’Neill specifically said Andreyko was prohibited from having any contact whatsoever with the Lower Pottsgrove couple and March.
“You’re not allowed to utter their names. You can’t mention their names in any posting or any letter. That’s what I mean by no contact,” O’Neill addressed Andreyko at the time, adding the prohibition included Facebook and Twitter communications.
Any violation of the conditions would be met with the potential for state prison time, O’Neill said at that time.
“Minor behaviors could have major consequences. That’s not a warning, that’s a fact,” the judge sternly reminded Andreyko in March 2014.
In May 2010, Andreyko was sentenced to five months already served to 23 months in jail for stalking the Lower Pottsgrove man and his wife between December 2008 and March 2009. At the time of Andreyko’s sentencing, O’Neill, based on information he received from doctors who indicated Andreyko would benefit from additional inpatient treatment, involuntarily committed her to the Montgomery County Emergency Services facility.
It’s unclear when Andreyko was released from custody.
But on June 22, 2012, a relative of the married couple Andreyko was convicted of stalking in 2009 received a new letter from Andreyko. The letter allegedly penned by Andreyko indicated the male victim is her “idol,” and she requested that he write her before her birthday in July. The victims told police they were “living in fear again,” according to the arrest affidavit filed by Lower Pottsgrove Detective Joseph Campbell, who alleged Andreyko was “infatuated” with the married man.
On June 27, 2012 March received a “disturbing phone call” at The Mercury office from Andreyko. According to court records, March told police Andreyko was “screaming at her on the phone calling her a bitch and (saying) she was going to lose her job for putting (Andreyko’s) name in the newspaper.” Andreyko also made a reference to a prophet.
Two days after Andreyko called the newspaper, March received a card from Andreyko at The Mercury office which read, “You are about to become Celsius,” according to the arrest affidavit. Andreyko also threatened “Get your article off the Internet about the Prophet because I’m about to profit from your stupidity! ... Remove my address immediately, this is a threat!”
The same day March received the card from Andreyko, Douglass (Mont.) police were called to Zern’s where Andreyko allegedly attempted to purchase a firearm, specifically a Taurus PT22, a small, .25-caliber handgun.
Police were alerted when the gun shop owner did a background check on Andreyko and learned she was wanted out of Lower Pottsgrove for harassment and stalking incidents.
Police alleged Andreyko lied on the questionnaire she filled out to purchase a firearm when answering questions about her criminal history as well as whether she was ever committed to a mental institution.