In Monday's Lazor v. Souders (opinion by Judge Michael Powell, joined by Judges Stephen Powell & Matthew Byrne), the Ohio Court of Appeals upheld a stalking protection order against Souders, based on his deceptively trying to contact a woman he met online, and who had said she didn't want him to contact her:
On or about May 18, 2023, appellant and Lazor began talking on the online dating app "Hinge." As their communications progressed in a positive manner, appellant asked that they move their conversation to Facebook. In response, Lazor asked for appellant's last name so she could conduct a Google search on him. Appellant told Lazor that his last name was Sowders. After a Google search yielded no results, Lazor agreed to communicate with appellant on Facebook.
After interacting for a while on Facebook, appellant asked Lazor for a date. Prior to responding, Lazor decided to investigate appellant further to make sure she was safe going on a date with him. Consequently, Lazor posted appellant's photograph on a "private Facebook community for women." The Facebook group was created for women to post photographs of men and for other women in the group to provide any information, including "red flags," they may have on the individual depicted.
Lazor posted appellant's photograph on May 20, 2023. Several women in the private Facebook group reported negative interactions with appellant, and some indicated he was hostile and dangerous. Upon receiving this information, Lazor blocked appellant on Hinge and Facebook. Appellant then found Lazor on Instagram on May or May 22, 2023, even though Lazor had never provided appellant her Instagram name or handle. Upon finding Lazor on Instagram, appellant messaged her and called her out for blocking him on Hinge and Facebook. Lazor did not respond to appellant's message and instead instantly blocked him on Instagram.
On June 7, 2023, Lazor received a message on Facebook from Tatiana Koblinski. It is undisputed that the Tatiana Koblinski Facebook account was a fake Facebook account appellant had created and which he used to message Lazor. Using that Facebook account, appellant messaged Lazor, claiming that the information she had received from the private Facebook group was not true. Appellant also used the fake Facebook account to "text yell" at Lazor for blocking him on other social media platforms.
