Woman Accused Of Harassing Cheerleaders Headed To Trial: Bucks DA

Doylestown PA

14 May, 2021

1:55 PM

Description

DOYLESTOWN, PA — A Chalfont woman will face trial for allegedly harassing three teens on her daughter's cheerleading squad, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office announced Friday. Raffaela Spone, 50, who was charged with harassment in March, appeared in court Friday for a preliminary hearing, during which District Judge Regina Armitage found enough evidence to send all charges to the Court of Common Pleas for a trial, the DA's office said. The evidence presented during the hearing included a photograph of one of the cheerleaders that was "manipulated in a way to make her falsely appear to be unclothed in a public place," prosecutors said. Investigators said they can track messages sent to or about the three teens back to Spone's home and, in some cases, her cellphone. While investigators originally believed at least one video showed evidence of the use of so-called Deep Fake face replacement technology, police are at this point unable to confirm the video evidence was falsified, authorities said. "While the original assessment that some of the evidence was created by media manipulation may not end up being accurate, a neutral finder of fact will ultimately have the opportunity to determine if the evidence in this case shows Ms. Spone sent photos, videos and texts designed to harass three innocent children," District Attorney Matt Weintraub said in a statement Friday. "Judge Armitage's decision shows she was satisfied the Commonwealth's evidence met the necessary initial burden." The investigation began in July after the mother of one of the victim's reported to Hilltown Township Police that she received text messages/phone calls from blocked or unknown numbers telling her "you should kill yourself." Hilltown Township police met with the parents of two additional victims in December. Those parents said they received harassing text messages in August about their daughters, including pictures of the girls labeled with offensive captions, authorities said. Police used a series of search warrants to determine information about the phone numbers the messages were sent from, leading them to the IP address that traced back to Spone. At the time, all three victims cheered for the Victory Vipers in Doylestown, as did Spone's daughter. The case is being investigated by the Hilltown Township Police Department and Bucks County detectives. Be the first to know what's happening in your town and area. Sign up to get Patch emails and don't miss a minute of local and state news: https://patch.com/subscribe