16 January 2025 , 20:30
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The Chenango County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man for multiple charges including coercion, unlawful surveillance and harassment.
The Sheriff’s Office arrested Jonathon Rees, 56, of McDonough, on a sealed indictment arrest warrant.
Rees was charged with offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree and unlawful surveillance in the second degree, both felony charges. Rees was also charged with perjury, making a false written statement, three counts of coercion, aggravated harassment and unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image, all misdemeanor charges.
According to court documents, Rees was in an on-and-off relationship with Jane Doe from April 2016 to September 2022. On Sept. 6, 2022, Doe ended the relationship with Rees; when she broke up with him, Doe ended all forms of communication with Rees.
Rees allegedly launched a campaign of threats to force Doe to respond to his messages. These threats included references to self-harm and exposing explicit content of Doe to a large audience. In a preliminary statement, Rees refers to himself as a public figure, citing he has more than 65,000 followers on X and 17,000 on Instagram under the name Greg Ellis.
Court documents claimed that in October, Rees messaged friends and family of Doe and shared confidential information and illicit photos of Doe.
On Nov. 2022, Rees testified in open court and admitted to his attempt to use “revenge porn” to extort Doe; the court then issued a Domestic Violence Restraining order. On Nov. 25, 2022, Rees sought to intimidate a third-party witness from testifying against him. The next day, Rees posted on social media that he would reveal Plaintiffs as retaliation.
The sheriff’s office said Rees turned himself in at the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office after receiving a Notice to Appear. Rees was processed, arraigned, and released. Rees is scheduled to appear in court at a later date.