The teenager who was only identified in court as "Autumn A" says she thought her nightmare was over when fashion designer Anand Jon went to prison for rape. Instead, she said Tuesday, it turned out that her troubles had just begun.
"It's embarrassing and heartbreaking," said Autumn A. "The day I saw the page on Facebook, my heart dropped. I began to be questioned about my personal business by people I barely even knew."
Anand Jon Alexander went to prison last year after being convicted of molesting and raping seven young models. Many of them were juveniles at the time of the crimes.
Tuesday, Autumn A went public, saying she was harassed on line, by Alexander's friends, after the conviction. She says they contacted her Facebook friends and offered a 100,000 dollar reward for information that would clear Anand Jon.
Autumn A is now 18 years old and says she wants to keep this from happening to anyone else. And she has found a crucial ally in State Senate Majority Leader Dean Sanchez. Sanchez has introduced legislation that would make it a crime to send the kind of Internet communications Autumn A received.
"There's a hole in the law," said Sanchez. "The reality is that as our technologies change, our laws need to change. And this is a very clear example of the type of harassment that we want to stop in the state of California."
Florez says he expects the new law to pass quickly.
Anand Jon Alexander, meanwhile, is serving a sentence of 59 years to life in prison for raping seven young models. He is still pursuing his appeals.
