Man pleads guilty to threatening to rape Jacksonville woman on Facebook

They were strangers.

Now, a man faces up to five years in federal prison after using Facebook to threaten to rape a Jacksonville woman.

Seyed Ali Soroushjou pleaded guilty this week.

Soroushjou lived in Maryland when he made that threat.

“People who behave this way potentially could travel and actually harm somebody,” said Action News Jax Law and Safety Expert Dale Carson.

A former FBI special agent, Carson said the FBI was right to take Soroushjou’s threat seriously.

In 2016, a Jacksonville woman told law enforcement a stranger on Facebook going by the username MobyDick Nahangha Vahshi sent her a graphic message threatening to rape her.

Investigators found that account belonged to Soroushjou.

An FBI search warrant revealed he had searched for the Jacksonville woman on Facebook five times in the days leading up to that message, according to the plea agreement.

“I would not encourage anyone to respond back aggressively. Some of us may be inclined to say, ‘Oh, go pound salt, you don’t know what you’re talking about.’ For the wrong person, that can act as an accelerant,” said Carson.

Carson said the most important thing for a victim to do is take photos or screenshots documenting the threatening messages and hand them over to law enforcement.

A sentencing date for Soroushjou has not been set.

Cox Media Group