Patrick Fox sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison for harassing ex-wife online

A Burnaby B.C., man who criminally harassed his his ex-wife with a vulgar website and a slewof threatening emails was sentenced to nearly four yearsin prison on Friday.

Patrick Fox, 43, created a site using his ex's name Desiree Capuano and labelled her a white supremacist, drug addict and child abuser. The site also contained intimate photos. He also used Google ads to directinternettraffic from workplaces and neighbourhoods nearCapuano'shome in Arizona to the site.

• Court hears accused harasser promised to 'destroy' ex-wife

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Heather Holmes said Fox's harassment was boundless.

"Mr.Foxdid everything he could to humiliate and torment Ms.Capuanoto the point where she feared reasonably for her and her family's safety," Holmes said Friday.

With time served being taken into account,Foxwill spend nearly two years in prison and be on probation for three years after his release.

Thousands of emails

In June, athick compilation ofemails agreed to by both sides as fact was presented to a jury that eventuallyfound Fox guilty.

In one email, Foxpromised to "ruin"Capuano'slife and hurt her "emotionally." He also wrote that he would "destroy" her "slowly and incrementally."

"Don't think for onesecond that anything will ever be more important to me than destroying you. Every moment of my life is focused on one single goal," the message read.

All in all, court heard he sent hundreds of thousands ofemailsto his ex-wife and people she knew.

Capuano, an IT worker, said shelost her job in 2015 and was told"security risks" caused by theonline attacks were part of the reason.

Landmark case

Fox'swas a landmark case in howcriminal harassment charges are applied in Canada, as he only attacked his wife online.

The case was also one of thefirst Canadian attempts to use the charge of criminal harassment to counter online attacks.

Crown prosecutor MarkMyhresaidhe hopes the sentence sends a message to other potential offenders.

• Ex-wife admits to provoking accused online harasser, says she hit back with sarcasm

"If you set out to make somebody's life miserable, if you make that your goal in life, you stand a really good chance of going to jail," he said.

Myhreadded it was "a huge relief" forCapuanoto have the case "taken seriously."

Fox was also sentenced to 10 months in prison for a secondary firearms offence on Friday. His sentences will be served consecutively.