ATHENS, Ga. — The U.S. Department of Justice announced a Georgia woman would spend more than a year in federal prison after stalking and threatening a Tennessee couple.
Gabryele Watson, of Athens, was convicted of cyberstalking a couple living in Tennessee, playing on their dreams of adopting a child.
The couple, according to officials, had spent the better part of a decade trying to grow their family and adopt a child.
The USDOJ said she assumed the identity of a real, pregnant 16-year-old in Pennsylvania, using social media posts about the girl’s pregnancy to fuel her impersonation.
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“This defendant, for her own selfish and evil reasons, preyed on the hopes and dreams of a young couple who simply wanted to be parents,” said U.S. Attorney Boucek. “This kind of fraud is devastating to those it affects, it cannot be tolerated, and today’s punishment shows that we will hold those who commit it accountable for their actions.”
The information she took from the posts included the girl’s name, nickname, birthday, home state, name of her boyfriend and father of the child, as well as multiple photographs and recordings of the two, including what USDOJ described as “a series of ‘baby bump’ photographs” during the pregnancy.
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Watson also got sonogram photos and videos of the girl and her unborn child at various stages of development, then “copied the new content for continued use in her scheme,” federal officials said.
While pretending to be the teenage girl, Watson contacted the couple through a social media page focused on their adoption efforts, then through spoofed text messages and phone calls to pretend she wanted to give up her baby to them for adoption.
Watson shared the personal details about the pregnancy and the teenage mother-to-be with the couple in Tennessee and was able to get similar personal information from the woman. Over time, Watson started having the couple be frequently available to talk at all hours, purchase baby-related items and kept threatening to cancel the alleged adoption over claims of health issues for the baby.
Federal officials said Watson also pretended to be a stalking victim, claimed to have disappeared from home and threatened to get an abortion, injure the unborn child or commit suicide while pregnant.
Eventually, Watson threatened to kill the couple, too.
But the first couple wasn’t the only group she victimized, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Gabryele Watson’s deliberate actions instilled fear in caring people who longed to adopt a child,” Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly of the FBI Nashville Field Office said. “Cyberstalking not only causes panic and anxiety but also leaves victims feeling constantly unsafe and vulnerable.”
USAO said Watson did the same thing to another couple in Tennessee, this time pretending to be a pregnant 18-year-old from Arkansas, claiming to be pregnant with high-risk twins.
In a similar process, Watson communicated with the second Tennessee couple, had them purchase baby items, then continued communications with the family while being verbally abusive.
Watson also threatened to kill the couple and their two children.
The FBI is still working to identify additional victims of Watson’s scam.
Watson was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. As a federal crime, she does not have the possibility of parole.
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