Man in stalking case jailed
A man is behind bars on charges he sent text messages threatening an ex-girlfriend in Butler, her mother and three of her neighbors.
Butler County sheriff's deputies traveled to Iowa last week to pick up Joseph Portera, 32, formerly of Butler, who was wanted here on arrest warrants in separate criminal complaints stemming from the texts.
District Judge Bill O'Donnell arraigned Portera by video on a felony count of stalking and other charges. He is in the Butler County Prison on $200,000 bond.
Butler police in November obtained an arrest warrant for Portera after they allege he threatened a former girlfriend and her neighbors between Oct. 26 and 28, 2019.
The ex-girlfriend at the time, police said, had a protection from abuse order against him.
“(She) was receiving text messages from Portera calling (her) obscene names and threatening to kill her,” according to charging documents. “Portera even threatens to kill (her) neighbors.”
In some of the texts, police said, he referred to the PFA that the victim had obtained against him Oct. 23, 2019.
Police charged him with four counts of terroristic threats and one count of harassment, all misdemeanors.
Butler County detectives on July 27 filed their own charges, including a felony count of stalking and misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats and harassment, and a second arrest warrant was issued.
The detectives became involved after they learned that the former girlfriend and her mother, who lives out of state, were both allegedly receiving “ongoing threats and disturbing text messages” from the defendant, court documents said.
Investigators said they also believed Portera had left the area and was living elsewhere. They eventually tracked his whereabouts using social media to Bloomfield, Iowa.
A detective spoke to him by phone July 23, and told him to stop or he would face additional charges, beyond what Butler police had filed.
“Portera advised that he didn't care because the police weren't coming to get him,” documents said.
He did not deny sending the alleged threatening messages, investigators said.
Online court records did not list an attorney for him.
