Woman describes 'amazing sense of relief' after Canadian ex convicted for revenge website
Desiree Capuano says she was "scared to death" in the hours leading up to the guilty verdict against her ex-husband, Patrick Fox.
"I left work early. I couldn't stop crying all day. I kept playing through what my life would be like if he was acquitted and how I wouldn't be able to handle that," the Arizona woman told As It Happens guest host Laura Lynch.
Patrick Fox of Burbaby, B.C., was found guilty of criminal harassment by a Vancouver jury on Thursday, after 11 hours of deliberation in B.C. Supreme Court.
"Honestly, the only emotion that I could really pinpoint was gratitude," Capuano said of hearing the verdict. "I was very grateful for everyone who worked so hard for that verdict. And just an amazing sense of relief."
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At the heart of the landmark cross-border online harassment case was a website that Fox had built and maintained that targeted Capuano's friends, colleagues and neighbours.
I still have some time before I have to live in fear again.- Desiree Capuano
The site — which is still the first Google result on a search for her name — falsely maligns her as a drug addict, child abuser and white supremacist.
In a 2016 interview with CBC News, Fox said he created the site to "ruin her life and destroy her" and that he would not take it down unless Capuano died or became "destitute and homeless."
But what Capuano remembers most is the way she says Fox turned their son against her.
"He would tell him things and convince him of things and make him fearful and make him doubtful about everything that happened in my home, where my son and I have a strong, good relationship," she said.
"He would come back from his father's a total stranger."
One of the central moments of Fox's trial was when Capuano took the stand to testify, facing grueling cross-examination from her ex's lawyer.
"It was humiliating and terrifying. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I was alone. I felt like I was defending myself," she said.
At the Crown's request, a barrier was erected in the court room so Capuano would not have to see Fox during her testimony.
But at one point, he claimed he was not the person she was referring to in her testimony, prompting the judge to have the barrier temporarily removed so she could identity her harasser.
"And he looked right at me," she said. "I was holding my breath the whole time. I cried when they first told me. I had to take many deep breaths and I held my breath and didn't think about it. I just did what I had to do."
These days, Capuano said she can breath a little easier. She has a "very strong" relationship with her son, who she says is now mature enough to understand what his father has done.
"The last year, knowing where his location is, knowing that he can't get onto the internet, knowing that he can't update the website, knowing that there's somebody watching him all the time has given be the ability to breath and, for the first time in a long time, just live, just live every day, and it has truly been a blessing," she said.
"Realizing how close I was to having to give it up again is part of what makes the relief so great about this verdict, is that I still have some time before I have to live in fear again."
A sentencing hearing for Fox has not yet been scheduled and the Crown has requested he undergo a psychiatric evaluation first.
As for the website, Fox had the servers moved to Iceland, where local laws protect it from being dismantled.
Capuano has been working to reach out to Icelandic authorities and Google in a bid to have it shut down.
"I will continue to try," she said. "I will not give up."
With files from CBC News