Actor (55) jailed for harassing Irish woman 20 years after J1 trip

An American actor who harassed an Irish woman over a three-year period has been sentenced to two years in prison, with the final year suspended.

Stephen Spenneberg (55), of Oakshire Drive, Los Angeles, California, was sent forward on a signed plea from the District Court for harassing the woman on dates between May 10th, 2020 and January 3rd, 2023.

Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Orla Crowe described Spenneberg’s harassment as “unwanted, unwarranted, persistent and repeated” and noted that it had had a “profound impact” on the woman.

Judge Crowe said that “like so many Irish students” the woman had travelled on a J1 visa to the US in 2003.

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The court heard that she had a brief romantic relationship with Spenneberg during which they exchanged contact information, but that on her return to Ireland, she told him she no longer wished to continue their relationship.

However, Spenneberg, who was living in Los Angeles, continued to contact her directly and indirectly by various means including phone, email and social media. The woman complained to gardaí, who took it seriously and got in touch with Spenneberg to tell him to stop contacting her.

Judge Crowe said Spenneberg was told “clearly and unequivocally” by third parties including the gardaí and Kentucky police, on several occasions, to stop contacting the woman, but that he persisted.

The woman blocked him from all her social media accounts and changed her contact details, but he changed his account name and made further contacts.

Garda Shauna Ferncombe gave evidence that Spenneberg emailed the woman on May 10th, 2020 asking her to appear on his podcast with a view to promoting a project she was involved with.

The court heard the woman received two voicemails, one email, two Instagram friend requests and one message on social media during 2020 from Spenneberg asking her to unblock an account.

The woman also made a report to gardaí on June 17th, 2022 about a voicemail from Spenneberg in which he said he had lost his job and asked her “what he was waiting for?” Garda Ferncombe confirmed that she listened to the voicemail, in which Spenneberg also said he was “desperate” and that “desperate people do desperate things”.

Spenneberg came to Ireland on December 31st last and went to a commercial premises connected with the woman’s family in Munster. He made enquiries about her and spoke with her parents. The court heard that when the woman’s father asked him what his business was, Spenneberg walked away.

Spenneberg was arrested on January 7th last. He has been in custody since.

When interviewed, Spenneberg told gardaí he was not inclined to stop contacting the woman as he wanted to hear from the woman herself that she did not want any further contact. He told gardaí he did not take their calls seriously as it seemed “insane” that an international police force would contact him. He said he would have stopped all contact if the woman had told him directly to stop.

Spenneberg told gardaí that he thought some of the woman’s social media posts were a way for her to contact him without other people knowing. He accepted he had tried to contact her on several social media platforms.

A victim impact statement was handed into the court, but not read aloud.

Garda Ferncombe disagreed with a suggestion put forward by Kieran Kelly BL, defending, that Spenneberg was “chivalrous” in going to speak with the woman’s family. The garda disagreed with Mr Kelly’s suggestion that Spenneberg was motivated by a “genuine” belief to see if there had been something “worth re-kindling” between the woman and himself. She also did not accept that his voicemail to the woman could be interpreted in other ways.

Mr Kelly said his client regretted his actions and was now aware that there was no prospect of a relationship with the complainant.

Judge Crowe set a headline sentence of three years but reduced this to two years with 12 months suspended on the basis of mitigating factors, including Spenneberg’s guilty plea and the fact that he would be in custody far from home. The sentence was backdated to January 7th last.

Spenneberg was ordered to stay away from and have no contact, directly or indirectly, with the injured party, on a permanent basis, by any means whatsoever.