UTAH COUNTY, Utah, March 26, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A 78-year-old Provo woman is facing 10 charges of class A misdemeanor stalking after she allegedly “harassed and threatened” her ex-fiance when he asked her to stop contacting him.
A probable cause statement from Utah County said Josette Aurelie LaFranca was arrested Monday morning and booked into Utah County Jail with her bail set at $10,000.
The statement said that on Feb. 12, the alleged victim contacted officials.
“The victim stated that he was in a relationship with the defendant in this case and that they had become engaged,” the statement said. “After the victim dealt with some alarming behavior with the defendant, the victim called off the engagement and asked the defendant not to contact him anymore.”
Officials then spoke with LaFranca and advised her that she was to have no contact of any kind with the victim.
“She agreed and had a letter on her table in the front room that was addressed to the victim,” the arresting officer wrote in the statement. “I advised her not to send the letter and to have no contact by mail, phone, email or in person.”
The victim contacted the police department again stating that the contact was continuing and that the defendant had made several calls to him and left threatening voicemails stating that if the victim wouldn’t talk to her that “there would be problems,” the statement said.
The victim showed officials pictures of the defendant in his driveway walking up the house and driving past the residence after she was told to have no contact.
An officer from Provo Police Department took a report from the victim on March 11. On the same day, that officer met with LaFranca and advised her a second time to cease all contact. The defendant stated that she understood and agreed to stop all contact.
On March 21, officials met with the victim again at the Provo Police Department at which time the victim showed them “several calls and voicemails on his phone from the defendant and a message that there would be problems if he didn’t contact the defendant.”
Officials took pictures of the voicemail screen from the victim’s phone.
“I counted over 50 messages in the victim’s phone from the defendant and was advised that there were several messages left on the victim’s phone from the defendant’s home phone as well,” the statement said.
On Monday, the arresting officer made contact with LaFranca at her residence and she was read her Miranda rights. She agreed to speak to the officer in the presence of another officer and on bodycam. LaFranca was asked if she remembered talking to officers on two previous occasions and she said she did and if she remembered that she was to have no contact with the victim and she also stated that she did.
“The defendant stated that she contacted the victim so many times because he wouldn’t talk to her after asking her to marry him three times and now won’t talk to her,” the statement said.
“The defendant has committed a course of conduct of repeatedly contacting, harassing, and threatening the victim under UCA 76-5-106.5 a class A misdemeanor.”
