An Akron woman is pursuing criminal charges after someone posted her picture, name and phone number on a fake sex ad that appeared on Craigslist.
As a result, Clythie Sharp, 47, began receiving dozens of text messages from strange men while she was babysitting her grandchildren last Friday night.
Many of the men also sent pictures of their private parts, as the bogus ad requested.
Sharp estimated she got about 80 texts and a couple of phone calls.
"Very scary. Overly Scary. Heart dropped," Sharp said. "I had my two little grand babies with me as these texts were rolling in."
Sharp believes the ad, which has since been taken down, potentially put her life in danger by putting her personal information online.
"What if someone decided, 'Hey, that's the girl I seen.' Cut my throat, kidnap me, whatever. What do I do?"
Sharp said one of the men texted her a copy of the ad after she explained that she didn't have one on Craigslist.
She filed a report with the Akron Police Department and gave an officer the name of a possible suspect.
Sharp believes a co-worker, who doesn't like her, created the ad out of revenge.
"I want someone to know that you can't do this. This is not good. It's not safe for women."
News 5 is not naming the suspect because the person has not been charged. On Wednesday, the employer said the person listed on the report was out of town.
Captain Dan Zampelli said Sharp has been referred to the city prosecutor's office to pursue a possible charge of telecommunications harassment.
"It's a difficult situation. Who posted it?" Zampelli said. "It's a very delicate issue and it's a very new issue. It's a relatively new law."
Sharp decided to share the explicit fake ad on her Facebook page to clear her name with family and friends.
"I'm putting it out there to let them know this is horrible and that when people get mad at you, this is the things that they do to you."
