Aurora man convicted in fence dispute gets 21 days behind one

Conspiracy theorist was guilty of communication with intent to harass

A man convicted of a “relentless” social media campaign against a woman over an Aurora fence dispute has been sent to jail for 21 days.

Bob Lepp was ordered to begin serving his sentence Aug. 17.

The Monday ruling by Superior Court of Justice judge Robert F. Goldstein comes after a minor fence dispute that began in 2017 evolved into a “completely pointless legal imbroglio that has managed to ensnare several otherwise uninvolved people.”

Lepp was engaged by a resident upset that her neighbour, Tina Duncan, built a fence to contain her dog in the backyard. Duncan attempted to remedy the neighbour’s concerns and eventually Aurora’s bylaw department decided the fence complied with town rules.

“And there the matter should have ended,” Goldstein ruled. “After all, it was a fence. It was not a minefield or a crocodileinfested moat.”

But the neighbour conducted a social media campaign against Duncan, engaging Lepp in 2018 to help.

Lepp came to the neighbour’s attention because he was embroiled in an online spat with the town over a dog park, during which he “began to formulate various conspiracy theories involving the town and various individuals,” Goldstein said, adding Lepp was convicted of communication with intent to harass and breach of recognizance.

The neighbour “apparently noticed what Mr. Lepp was doing in his private war against the town. She wanted some of that for her fence problem. She hired Mr. Lepp.”

Lepp launched a petition to get the “spite fence,” as he called it, removed then escalated to an online campaign against Duncan and others, Goldstein said.

Lepp said Duncan was getting preferential treatment from the town because of an alleged connection to the mayor (she had put up a lawn sign during the municipal election) and “made other claims that were demonstrably false or found to be false by a court,” the judge said.

Duncan served a libel notice on the neighbour and Lepp, demanding they remove posted statements.

The neighbour complied, but Lepp continued his campaign by continuing to “attack” Duncan and undermine her lawyers, an earlier court ruled.

A court found Lepp had defamed Duncan.

Alleging Lepp breached a court injunction, Duncan’s lawyers brought a motion in early 2021 to have Lepp found in contempt and a judge found nine incidents of contempt.

Goldstein said the court has unsuccessfully encouraged Lepp, who represented himself, to get a lawyer, adding Lepp has claimed to be the victim of conspiracy theories.

While Lepp did provide a written apology to the court, Goldstein said he continued to violate a court order.

“That said, I agree that the apology was not sincere. Mr. Lepp has kept right on talking about conspiracies and fences. The day after he filed the motion to purge (showing he accepts and respects the law, even if he disagrees with it), he sent off emails repeating some of the libels,” the judge said.

Noting Lepp failed to comply with court orders, including to pay fines, Goldstein said a jail sentence is appropriate.