Satanic ‘poet’
Nabbed by feds in harass of childhood pal
A NOTORIOUS internet troll with an alleged history of harassment going back decades will finally face federal charges — after the FBI linked him to a creepy stalking campaign against a woman he’s known since childhood.
Jason Hughes, 46, referenced the occult and cannibalism in his letters, and at one point, he quoted 17th century “Paradise Lost” poet John Milton in an attempt to blame the victim for his “work,” according to documents filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Hughes, who’s the subject of websites tracking his alleged harassment over the years, is charged with stalking two women — one of whom he’s known since they were pen pals in the fourth grade.
He started stalking her when she broke off their increasingly threatening correspondence, and things got stranger from there, according to court filings.
Once, he showed up unannounced at her college dorm, and after her marriage, he started sending threatening letters to her in-laws, the feds allege.
The victim tried with no luck to get restraining orders, then moved overseas with her husband and children and became a teacher, prosecutors said.
In 2015, he found her email address and started barraging her with messages using the pen name “Raymond Johnson,” one of his many aliases, according to court records.
“Since YOU were the original person who inspired me to choose Evil? EVIL BE THOU MY GOOD!” he allegedly wrote in one March 2015 email, quoting a line from Satan in “Paradise Lost.”
In another message, he sent her a link to a magazine story about the death of five children in a fire, alongside personal info on her own children.
“Consider yourself very very lucky indeed that I don’t dare bring Darkness right to your classroom or front door,” read another email. “See I don’t like children. I actually hate them. I laugh when one of them is abducted or falls under a train or is eaten by wild dogs. This is who I am, and You Helped Create Me.”
One disturbing email he sent to a second victim in September 2015 described a step-by-step mutilation of a human being, under the title, “How to Make a Your Own Pet Owl,” prosecutors said.
As he was stalking his victims, the FBI was tracking him down — linking his aliases, email addresses and websites to an address on Staten Island, where he lives with his wife and in-laws, law enforcement sources said.
He was arrested and indicted last month.
Sporting an unkempt beard and glasses, with his hair combed back, Hughes pleaded not guilty at his Brooklyn Federal Court arraignment Monday. He’s charged with violating interstate communication laws by sending threats.
Hughes’ eyes grew wide when he was approached by a Daily News reporter outside the courtroom Monday. “I have no comment,” he said. Hughes remains free on $150,000 bail, and is under house arrest and prohibited from using a computer for nonwork purposes, officials said.
The arrest was a long time coming, said David Schlesinger, 61, a California man who’s been chronicling Hughes online for more than a decade.
“This guy is everything that’s wrong with the internet,” Schlesinger said, adding that Hughes has targeted him and his family since 2003, after a run-in on social media.
“People have dropped off the internet, changed their names to get away from this guy.”