Peekskill Man Sentenced to Prison for Stalking Female Victims
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By Rick Pezzullo
A Peekskill man was sentenced last week to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to stalking multiple victims between October 2019 and August 2020.
David Kaufman, 28, was also sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nelson Roman to three years of supervised release, with the first six months of home detention, the conditions of which include orders of protection prohibiting him from, among other things, contacting certain victims and their family members.
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Kaufman also went by the names “David Khalifa,” “John Morray,” and “Big Man,” and is a self-identified “Incel,” or “Involuntary Celibate.”
“David Kaufman, a self-described ‘Incel,’ or ‘Involuntary Celibate,’ expressed his hatred of women by terrorizing and harassing his victims through threats of violence,” Williams stated. “The court’s sentence sends a clear message to the public that perpetrators of violence against women will be held accountable for their crimes.”
According to the complaint, indictment, other documents in the public record, as well as statements made in public court proceedings: Incels believe they are entitled to sex with women and to women’s bodies, and they blame women for refusing to have sex with them. Incels have an active online community and over the last eight years, Incels also have committed acts of violence against women around the world, including in the United States.
In or about 2019 and 2020, Kaufman harassed, threatened, and stalked numerous victims. In or about February 2019, Kaufman sent a bomb, rape, and death threat to a female victim. A few months later, beginning in or about October 2019, Kaufman sent two victims, among others, violent and threatening messages using more than 50 social media accounts. In these messages, Kaufman self-identified as an Incel, expressed his hatred of women, and threatened to commit acts of violence.
Kaufman also created social media accounts using the first and last names of victims and impersonated them online.
In the summer of 2020, law enforcement officers approached Kaufman told him to stop harassing victims. On or about July 14, 2020, Kaufman was arrested on state criminal charges and an order of protection was issued in Westchester County prohibiting Kaufman from, among other things, communicating or contacting victims.
Notwithstanding the court order of protection, state charges, and multiple warnings by law enforcement, Kaufman continued to harass, threaten, and stalk the victims until he was federally charged and arrested in August 2020. Kaufman also conducted online surveillance of a victim’s residence and researched how to illegally purchase a gun and assemble a semi-automatic rifle.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
