TEXTING LEADS TO STUDENTS ARREST

EAST OTTO – On December 20^th Troopers in Collins arrested 18yr old Joseph Bach of Sky Ranch Rd in East Otto for Criminal Impersonation, and multiple counts of 2^nd degree Aggravated Harassment and 3^rd degree Stalking following a lengthy investigation. Over the past two months Mr. Bach was sending unwanted and threatening text messages to numerous young female victims from the Dayton, Gowanda, Machias and Otto areas. He used the popular social website “Facebook” to get phone numbers and other personal information from the victims. From there he would send the texts to them, pretending a female they knew or an unknown young man. He would request they send inappropriate pictures of themselves to his phone or threaten to post other inappropriate pictures he had of them on “Facebook”, should they refuse. Troopers got a break when a victim alerted them to a recently received text on the 18^th. Working with Verizon and the Cattaraugus County DA’s office, Troopers were able to “ping” the phone the texts were sent from, leading them to the Sky Ranch Rd area, and ultimately Mr. Bach. On the 19^th Troopers picked him up after getting off the school bus and brought him to the Collins barrack for questioning. He was subsequently charged and processed. He is also facing charges stemming from an on-going investigation by State Police Investigators at the Machias barracks. Because his victims reside throughout Cattaraugus County, Troopers have been working closely with other law enforcement agencies; including the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Department and the Village of Gowanda Police Department, both of which have additional charges pending. Bach is scheduled for court in the Towns of Dayton, Persia and Otto. The victim’s age range was 16 to 19 years old