More victims have come forward in the Mister Pervert cyberstalking investigation, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s office.
“Right now we have gotten up to 32 victims, all ranging in different ages,†Investigator Amber Bernard said last Thursday on “Pensacola Speaks.” “The day after the press conference, it was overwhelming the response that we got.â€
At a press conference on Jan. 24, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan announced the arrest of Sean Michael Vest, age 31, on 15 counts of aggravated stalking and cyberstalking.
According to law enforcement, Vest focused on women in the Pensacola Catholic High Class of 2004 and their friends and family. Using the name “Mister Pervert,†he allegedly sent threatening, sexually explicit text messages and posted their Facebook photos on sex dating sites. He not only threatened the women, but allegedly expanded his attacks to friends and family members that he found on their Facebook accounts. Some of the victims were minors, others were grandmothers.
The use of cell phones and text messages added a more threatening aspect to the harassment. Bernard said, “Just hearing some of the people’s stories and how it made them feel and the measures that they went just out of their fear. It’s pretty sad.â€
The investigator said the information gained from the additional victims indicted the harassment has been occurring over a longer period that originally thought. The initial arrest announcement motivated others to contact law enforcement.
“It seems as though this guy has been doing it for years and been getting away with it and then some people came forward with it, so that was great,†said Bernard.
“We’ve had girls that have known him as childhood friends. He did these things to them starting 2013, from when they were younger,†she said. “He finally met his match when it came to investigating him.â€
