I think a lot of us agree that online gaming is fun. It has certainly raised the gaming industry to a new level in the past few years. On the other hand, online gaming can get out of hand if not kept proper perspective. If not careful, the online community can become a bit too personal to the point of being potentially dangerous.

 Police investigation revealed that a 15-year old Spokane, Washington girl met 20-year old Joshua R. Stetar of Saratoga Springs, New York, while playing Halo on Xbox Live.

Police say Stetar and the girl had been talking since 2006, and that several times he had sent packages and flowers to her home, only to have them returned by her parents. The victim had also received several hundred text messages on her cell phone in 2007, forcing the victim's mother to change her daughter's number. However, Stetar was able to get the new number from someone and started sending the victim messages again.

 One night the suspect sent a text message to the victim saying he was driving by her house at that moment in a gray Oldsmobile. The girl's parents were outside the home and in fact saw the car driving past.  A few minutes later. the victim received another text message from the suspect saying, "Tell the cops that I'm gonna rape you and your sister."

 The girl's father placed a harassment call to police, who later learned the suspect was staying at the Econo Lodge. Officers found the Oldsmobile Cutlass with New York license plates in the parking lot.

 During a police interview the suspect admitted he was able to get much of the girl's personal information such as her address and cellular telephone number by "Googling" her name. Stetar also said he flew to Spokane in October of 2007 and rented a U-Haul van to drive by the victim's house. The victim's mom says she was unaware of this visit. Stetar said he lived in New York and drove 40-hours straight to get to Spokane.

Stetar was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a Friday of one felony count of stalking. He was released the following Saturday.