Man charged with harassing Stonington forum moderator
Accused has had previous encounters with police
Stonington — A North Stonington man arrested in connection with a 2016 brawl with town highway department employees, was charged over the weekend with harassing the moderator of the popular Stonington Community Forum Facebook page and his family.
Morgan S. Dean, 39, of 29 Clarks Falls Road is accused of using sexually graphic and racist language to harass forum moderator Stephen Bessette and his family, including sending Bessette’s wife a message asking if he could swing by her house. The message was accompanied by a photo of Bessette’s address and phone number, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
Dean was charged with second-degree harassment on Saturday and released on a promise to appear Jan. 16 in New London Superior Court.
Court records show that at the time of his arrest, Dean was free on a $1,000 bond after being charged in North Stonington last October with two counts of second-degree breach of peace and one count of third-degree criminal mischief.
In 2016, Dean and highway department employee Tim Keena
were both charged with assault after Dean drove his tractor over a freshly paved piece of Prentice Williams Road. Highway employees confronted him, using profanities and a fight ensued between Dean, Keena and a third highway employee, who was not charged. The state’s attorney’s office decided not to prosecute them after the two men did not want to proceed with the case.
According to the affidavit for Dean’s newest arrest warrant, Officer Christopher Murray wrote that on Nov. 21, 2018, he responded to an address in Mystic after receiving a complaint from the moderator of the forum, which has 7,284 members, that he was being harassed.
Although the affidavit does not identify the moderator of the page and only refers to him as Victim 1, the moderator is Bessette, a former Republican selectman.
When police arrived, Bessette told them that Dean initially had posted a comment on the page that he considered to be offensive and not within the guidelines of the forum.
Dean’s comment read, “You moderators run a tight ship. Everyone get on the boxcar. NEIN!!! NOW!!!”
Bessette said he then sent a private message to Dean “stating ‘Hi, I’m the Admin of the forum page. What’s up with your post?’”
Bessette also told him “The reference to boxcar and German is offensive and it smaks of anti Semitic.”
Graphic comments
Dean then responded at 11:01 p.m. on Nov. 20 with a flood of sexually graphic comments about Bessette, with reference to homosexual acts, including using a racial epithet and calling him a vulgar term for women’s anatomy. There was also a crude sexual remark about Bessette’s wife.
“I hope you get leukemia, you worthless (expletive). You’re not a man. But somehow I don’t think that’s news to you...” Dean wrote, according to the affidavit.
Then at 7:52 a.m. the next morning, Dean sent Bessette another message saying “Hey bud. Get ready to see what all the fuss is about. You’re my #1 buddy now. Looking forward to speaking so we can resolve this. And we will be looking at each other.”
That afternoon, Dean sent Bessette another message saying that when he was younger, he had performed a sex act with a relative of Bessette’s and now he was going to go back on the community forum with a new name and post all the details of the encounter.
“She’s gonna love it. Hahaha. And compliments to you and your family. They’re lovely,” he wrote in the messages obtained by police. “And you can call the cops if you wish. I’m sure you have. I’ve conveyed no threat. Just wish to resolve this, some history of mutual acquaintance (mmmmmmm) and a compliment on ur lovely family. And they’ve already told u that I’m sure. Talk later. Working,” wrote Dean, a local landscaper.
Fearing for safety
Bessette told police that the conversation caused him to fear for the safety of his family.
Police also found that Dean had sent two text messages to Bessette’s wife, according to the affidavit.
The first, in which police have deleted their names stated, “Hi (Victim 2). It’s Morgan. Morgan Dean. (Victim 1’s) friend. I thought I heard you guys are selling. Can I swing by. Silly me. Bad timing. Another time. Holiday and all. Maybe I’ll just take a gander if I’m in the neighborhood. Feliz Navidad.” The text was accompanied by a photo that showed the Bessettes’ address and phone number.
Police said the phone number the text message came from was the same number they had for Dean from previous encounters with him.
The next day, Bessette’s wife received another message from Dean that read “How’s dinner?” Police advised Stephen Bessette to block Dean’s number as well as Facebook profiles for Morgan Dean and “Dorgan Mean,” which is another profile Dean uses.
Murray said he phoned Dean and told him not to contact Bessette or his family. Dean said the incident “was a joke” and he was not violating any laws in his conversations with Bessette.
Dean also told Murray that Bessette had to tell him to stop messaging him in order for the messages to be considered harassing or threatening. Murray told him that was not correct. Dean also complained that Bessette called him an anti-Semite on the forum. Murray said he would speak with Bessette and ask him to take that and all the other forum posts between them down.
Dean then told Murray he was only listening to Bessette’s claims, the affidavit said. When the officer told him that was not the case, Murray said Dean told him “to do what I had to do and he would do what he had to do.” Dean then hung up. Fifteen minutes later, he called back, said he had looked up the state law on harassment and was wrong. He said he was sorry and no longer would have contact with Bessette and his family.