From friend to fraud to jail

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This article was published 14/10/2015 (3361 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EASTERVILLE — She quietly snuck into court under the veil of anonymity — a stunning contrast to the worldwide attention her notorious crimes have attracted.

But there was no more hiding for Shelly Chartier. She had been exposed, her complex web of lies resulting in an 18-month jail sentence.

Master manipulator. Online predator. And now, provincial inmate.

“These offences were perpetrated over the Internet and impacted the lives of people all over North America. By posing as various real people that she met online, Shelly Chartier hid from the realities of her life… but also hid behind her keyboard while she befriended and defrauded her victims,” provincial court Judge Ryan Rolston told a packed community hall that serves as twice-monthly circuit court.

Chartier, 31, pleaded guilty to several charges including fraud, impersonation and uttering threats. She had been seeking a conditional sentence that would have allowed her to remain under house arrest in Easterville, a community of fewer than 100 people located 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

But Rolston said such a penalty wouldn’t reflect the gravity of Chartier’s crimes, which impacted several victims, including a professional basketball player, a Hollywood actress and a lovesick Texas woman. Rolston said allowing Chartier to simply go home — where all her crimes were planned and executed with precision — would be an injustice.

“The investigation of these offences spanned over three years and involved two countries, approximately 42 police officers and the execution of 39 search warrants,” said Rolston. “Each victim was impacted in a significant but individually unique and profound way.”

Chartier appeared distraught at the decision. The tiny woman sat in a chair with her head bowed. Her bedridden mother sat nearby on a stretcher, which had been wheeled into court by paramedics.

Rolston said it was a difficult case because there is no precedent in Canada. But he warned this type of crime is likely to become more common.

“In many respects the Internet has become the last lawless frontier of our society. It is a place where it is easy to remain anonymous. Cyber-predators can offend from behind their keyboards without regard to the victims they leave in their wake, no matter what real-life borders separate them from their victims,” the judge said. “The online predator hides in a cyber-forest of IP addresses, usernames and passcodes, buttressed by the fact that real-world boundaries cause jurisdictional issues for the authorities.”

Chartier has been described as a master manipulator who enjoyed toying with the lives of distant strangers while hiding behind a computer screen.

All of this was somehow pulled off by a woman who was armed only with a Grade 6 education, a celebrity obsession and a high-speed Internet connection in Easterville, a community rife with violence, poverty and addiction.

Chartier’s prime target was a colourful star in the National Basketball Association who had his identity stolen, only to be branded a suspected child sex offender. Although it was eventually revealed to be untrue, it caused plenty of grief including the loss of millions in contract money and endorsements.

The scheme to target him began in 2010 as Chartier resorted to what has come to be known as “catfishing.” She set up a Facebook profile in which she pretended to be the athlete while seeking out potential love interests with young women online. She also set up another fake account using the name of a popular online video-game enthusiast.

Once these connections had been made, Chartier would then contact the player through social media, taking on the identity of the young women she had befriended while posing as the player. The idea was to force the athlete into career-threatening situations and he’d be forced to pay “hush money.”

One of those young women was a then 17-year-old California girl who was apparently infatuated with athletes, including the basketball player, and held herself out to be 21. Chartier ended up getting the girl to send nude photos of herself. She also facilitated a meeting, where the player paid for the girl’s flights and they had consensual sex.

Once that was over, Chartier began blackmailing the player — pretending to be the teen and later the teen’s angry mother. Chartier made numerous demands, and ultimately received a cheque for $3,000 the player thought would end any legal issues.

Chartier also began threatening the teen while using the bogus identify of the video-game player, even posting some of her nude pictures online and sending her a link.

All of this eventually led to the girl and her mother going to police and a child exploitation investigation in which the basketball player and video-game player were viewed as suspects.

Another high-profile target was a Hollywood actress who knew the basketball player. Chartier posed as the basketball player and asked her if she could help a friend who had lost everything in a house fire in a remote Canadian community. The actress eventually sent several thousand dollars worth of clothing and an expensive bottle of wine.

Chartier’s longest-lasting victim was a Texas woman she befriended online, using the persona of the video-game player. Between 2008 and 2012, they maintained an online relationship despite never meeting face to face. The Texas woman was of “limited means” but essentially devoted her life to pleasing the video-game player she thought she was talking to. It was described as an often “emotionally abusive” relationship, where Chartier would berate and degrade the Texas woman.

The woman also sent gifts and money and was in the process of buying a car for her boyfriend when the ruse was exposed in 2013.

Chartier was also placed on two years of supervised probation Wednesday, which includes 200 hours of community service work.

www.mikeoncrime.com