Bad decisions came back to bite Robert Michael Porter.
The 52-year-old Clinton, Iowa, resident just spent 295 days in Twin Falls County Jail, a result of lashing out against a woman he had never met, yet broke his heart during an online romance, defense attorney Peter Hatch said.
Charges against him appeared hideous: video voyeurism, two counts of attempted grand theft by extortion, and a count of destruction of evidence, but it wasn’t as serious as what it might look on paper, even Judge Roger Harris said.
And through a plea deal, all but the first charge were dismissed.
The case wasn’t really about extortion, Harris said, but more about Porter trying to gain leverage in his relationship with the woman that prompted him to threaten to and then send compromising photos of the woman to her 26-year-old son — photos that the woman had sent to Porter previously but were meant to be kept private.
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Harris said he’s seen a lot of things during his 15 years on the bench, and what Porter did “was one of the most childish things I have seen.”
Porter, who has never before been in trouble with the law, admitted to Harris that “it’s been a big mistake since the beginning.”
According to court records, Porter grew enraged at the Twin Falls woman, who spurned him after an argument in December 2022. They had known each other, albeit online only, for six months, and he had begun sending her gifts, including lingerie and cash.
He also loaned her $300, court records say.
The woman blocked his phone number and wouldn’t contact him, prompting Porter to make his threat that he would take action if the woman didn’t make amends with him and repay the $300. Porter befriended the woman’s son on Facebook, and sent him the photos, records say.
Deputy prosecutor Jill Sweesy, in Tuesday’s hearing, said Porter also threatened to send photos to others, including posting them on Facebook and inviting men to her house, and asking men to send nude pictures to her.
Those kinds of alleged threats, plus what Sweesy said was a complete lack of remorse, prompted the prosecutor’s office to recommend Porter spend additional time in jail.
He put on his gloves, pulled down his mask, and readied his gun.
“He has frightened (the victim’s) family,” she related, and said the relationship between the victim and her son will never be the same.
Hatch said there wasn’t evidence Porter had sent the photos to anyone but her son, and that the 295 days Porter has spent in jail, apparently unable to come up with the $75,000 bond, was ample punishment.
“This is a probation case as clear as day,” Hatch said, who said Porter hopes to return home to Iowa. The defendant was extradited from Iowa to Idaho in April, to a state he had no connections, Hatch said.
Harris sided with Hatch, giving Porter a suspended sentence of two years fixed and three years indeterminate, with three years probation.
Porter is banned from online social media sites and will undergo counseling.
Porter told law enforcement when the incident happened that he didn’t think he had done anything wrong. “I realized it was immoral, but not illegal,” he explained to Harris.
And Harris said Porter, who was released from jail shortly after his hearing, can’t immediately leave the state and return to Iowa, but first must work out the terms of his probation with officials in that state.
At the end of the sentencing, Harris advised Porter to delete any photos of the woman he might have access to, along with offering this piece of advice: “Make smarter choices.”
And with that, Porter checked out of jail shortly afterward.