By Bill Grimes
Effingham Daily News
EFFINGHAM, Ill. — An Effingham man already facing possible prison time after pleading guilty to a drug charge was indicted this week.
An Effingham County grand jury indicted Tomas S. Canfield, 24, on several charges related to Canfield’s alleged treatment of county probation officer Molly Webb. According to court records, Webb filed a report to terminate Canfield’s probation on another charge.
The grand jury indicted Canfield for harassment of a witness, harassment, aggravated intimidation, intimidation, cyberstalking and threatening a public official, mostly involving Webb.
On the harassment of a witness charge, a Class 2 felony, Canfield is accused of posting “threatening and disturbing” messages on Facebook between June 7 and Dec. 1 to a potential witness in a pending legal proceeding. On the simple harassment, another Class 2 felony, Canfield is accused of conveying a physical threat between June 7 and Dec. 1.
Canfield was indicted for aggravated intimidation, yet another Class 2 felony, on a charge that he communicated a direct threat to Webb on Nov. 1 in retaliation for Webb allegedly filing a report in which she advocated terminating Canfield’s probation. The intimidation charge, a Class 3 felony, stems from Canfield allegedly communicating a direct threat of bodily harm.
Canfield was also indicted for cyberstalking, a Class 4 felony, in which he is accused of directing a number of threatening comments to Webb between June 7 and Dec. 1. Finally, he was indicted for threatening a public official, a Class 3 felony, in which he is accused of conveying a threat between Nov. 1 and 15 because of his hostility toward Webb in her official capacity as a probation officer.
State’s Attorney Bryan Kibler said Canfield’s indictments largely stem from his alleged animosity toward Webb.
“You can’t threaten the person preparing your pre-sentence report,” he said.
Canfield has been jailed in lieu of $750,000 bond. A status hearing in the case is set for 9 a.m. Dec. 21.
The grand jury also indicted a roving dance instructor with a Wisconsin address on suspicion of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly having sex with a teenage dance student sometime between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 9, 2012. Charles L. Young, 32, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, is accused of having sex with a girl between ages 13 and 17 in a local motel room. An arrest warrant has been issued and bond has been set at $50,000.
Kibler said Young is accused of meeting the girl at a clinic and “grooming” her to engage in sexual activity. He added that the alleged victim does not live within the county, but was in town for a large clinic.
Copyright 2015 the Effingham Daily News