Man charged with Turtleboy threat
LEOMINSTER — A Fall River man was arraigned in Leominster District Court on Thursday for allegedly making a death threat against Aidan Kearney, founder of the Turtleboy Sports blog.
Daniel Astle, 33, is accused of sending a graphic and threatening email to Kearney after being the subject of a blog post on the Turtleboy website, according to court documents. He was charged with threatening to commit a crime.
In the email in question, Astle details his desire to amputate one of Kearney’s limbs and tells him that there is nothing he will be able to do to protect himself, according to a copy of the message contained in a police report.
“Hopefully you regain some of your common sense and listen very carefully when I tell you I have nothing better to do right now then (sic) hunt you down,” Astle wrote in the email, according to police.
Speaking by phone Friday morning, Kearney said he wasn’t aware that Astle was arraigned, nor that the state had decided to pursue charges against him. Typically, he said, he’s looped in when charges are officially filed, noting that this is far from the first time he’s reported threats like this to the police.
“I’m the guy who’s always getting threatened,” Kearney said.
About a month ago, Kearney said, he attended a meeting at the Leominster District Courthouse that Astle also attended.
Kearney said Astle appeared at the meeting with his father, and that during the meeting he blamed Kearney for making him send the threatening email.
Astle appears to have been featured on the Turtleboy website at least three times, with the first post dating back to May 2018. In that blog, an author writing under a pseudonym accused Astle of sending inappropriate photos to underage girls and published screenshots of what appears to be Astle discussing interest in hurting and maiming other people.
According to court documents, Kearney received the emailed death threat on Sept. 4. He then posted about the death threat online, leading some of his fans to look up the email address attached to the threat and link it to Astle, according to police.
Kearney said he takes these kinds of messages seriously and often reports them to police, adding that he hopes these charges send a message to people who make these types of threats online.
A phone call to Astle, as well as a phone call to his defense attorney, were not immediately returned.
Astle was released on personal recognizance and is scheduled to appear in court again on Dec. 18.