Eight Denver-area women and teens reported to police in recent years that the man now accused of threatening to “kill as many girls as I see” had harassed them when they wouldn’t date him and, in some cases, made violent threats and advertised their names on social media as prostitutes.
Christopher Wayne Cleary, 27, of Denver, was still on probation in two separate Colorado cases when police and FBI agents arrested him Saturday in Provo, Utah, on suspicion of making a terrorist threat. He is accused of posting on Facebook that he wanted to kill as many women as possible because he’s a virgin who has never had a girlfriend.
Court records detailing Cleary’s criminal past in Colorado show a string of convictions — and repeated sentences of probation — related to the harassment and stalking of women stretching back at least three years. And they also suggest Cleary may not have been a virgin as claimed in the Facebook post; an ex-girlfriend told police they had a sexual relationship.
In at least one of the past criminal cases, Cleary violated his probation for a harassment conviction by harassing another woman, after which he was again sentenced to probation rather than prison, court records show. In four other similar cases, including three in Denver, authorities did not file criminal charges against Cleary.
Pam Russell, spokeswoman for Jefferson County District Attorney Pete Weir, said Tuesday that because of Cleary’s mental health needs, a 2016 stalking case was handled in Adult Mental Health Court. He was placed on probation requiring close supervision and that he get treatment.
While he was on probation, Cleary was convicted of stalking a second time less than a year later. He could have received two to eight years in prison that time, but a different judge sentenced Cleary to probation again, Russell said. Weir’s office had recommended he be sentenced to community corrections — a halfway house — at the time, she noted.
“Certainly we were very concerned. The courts decided to let his mental health issues be a big component of his treatment,” Russell said.
Court documents show that while Cleary was convicted of stalking two 18-year-old victims in Arvada, he also had been convicted of a misdemeanor harassment case in September 2016 in Weld County. Several other women also had accused him of similar behavior, court records show.
“One day ima snap”
On Dec. 31, 2015, an 18-year-old girl called Arvada police and said she had been corresponding with Cleary on Facebook, but when she refused to date him, he began harassing her with threatening phone calls, often using aliases. In one of the Facebook messages, a male claiming to be “John Coleman” wrote, “I’ve been watching you. Soon here, you’ll be lying in your deathbed.”
During the investigation, a detective found a prior Arvada criminal investigation involving Cleary and a second woman. They met on Facebook, but when Cleary asked for a date, the woman said no. He began sending her messages urging her to kill herself, according to a probable cause statement. He also allegedly posted an advertisement online with her name and phone number saying she would perform sex acts for $20, the statement says.
The Arvada detective found other harassment cases that had been investigated previously, including two in 2015. In one, Cleary was convicted on a misdemeanor telephone harassment charge. In that case, he convinced a woman to pose naked for him and then posted the photo online on a fake Facebook page in her name.
In one of the Denver harassment cases, Cleary allegedly wrote several threatening messages to a 17-year-old girl who refused to date him, according to court records, including one that said, “I own multipul (sic) guns I can have u dead in a second … One day ima snap and kill everyone.”
In a second Denver case, a 19-year-old woman said she lived with Cleary for two weeks in a hotel room and during that time he strangled her and urinated on her, court records show.
On Oct. 6, 2016, Cleary was convicted of two counts of stalking and harassment involving two of the three Arvada women, and was sentenced to two years on probation.
Probation, again
Less than a year later he was accused again.
A 43-year-old Lakewood woman called 911 on domestic violence and stalking complaints on Aug. 5, 2017. When police arrived at her home in the 11600 block of 13th Avenue, police arrested Cleary, who was outside the woman’s home at the time. Cleary told police the victim was the only person who loved him and he was lonely without her, according to court records.
The woman told investigators Cleary previously had been her boyfriend and they had sexual relations, but when she broke off the relationship, he began stalking her, according to court records. Cleary had called her 45 times that day, saying, “I hope you die,” “I am going to kill you,” “I am going to burn your house down,” and “I am going to send people to your house to kill you,” court records show.
The woman said that because of Cleary’s persistent stalking, she lost 20 pounds, had nightmares of him chasing her, awoke to find herself crying and had panic attacks. Cleary posted her phone number and address on Craigslist with fake pictures “soliciting sexual acts and rape,” according to the probable statement. She received many replies from strangers.
Cleary pleaded guilty in that case to felony stalking and making threats in a plea deal with prosecutors. Jefferson County Judge Dennis Hall sentenced him to three years of probation on May 18.
