Joseph Scanlan, (Buffalo County Jail, Courtesy)
KEARNEY — A former Local 4 news anchor has pleaded guilty to two counts of intimidation by electronic device in Buffalo County Court.
Joseph Scanlan, 27, or Arlington, Texas, had initially been charged with terroristic threats and two counts of intimidation – phone call/electronic communication, Class 3 misdemeanors.
The terroristic threat charge was later amended to attempt of a Class 4 felony, a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Scanlan plead guilty to the amended charges in Buffalo County Court on Thursday, March 21. A full pre-sentence investigation has been ordered. A sentencing hearing has been set for May 30, at 1:30 p.m.
Scanlan filed bail the amount of $5,000 on March 21.
Local 4 reported that Scanlan’s employment with the station ended on Nov. 3, 2023.
According to court documents, the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation after a Gibbon woman reported she had received threatening emails from Scanlan.
She reported she and Scanlan had been involved in a dating relationship and lived together from May to September 2023 in Grand Island.
On Dec. 5, 2023, deputies met with the woman at her home who advised she had been continuously receiving intimidating and threatening messages from Scanlan for the past month, according to court documents.
She advised after their separation, she had attempted to block Scanlan from communicating with her, however, he would create new email and social media accounts to send her messages.
The woman had applied for and was granted a harassment protection order.
On Dec. 11, 2023, at 6:01 a.m. Scanlan sent an email reading, “Do the world a favor and kill yourself. Seriously. I don’t want to have to do it for you.”
At 6:06 a.m., another email read, “You’d better watch your back because I’m back in Nebraska one of us or both of us ain’t leaving alive. I promise you I will end your life either psychologically or physically and I’m leaning toward the latter. Some people don’t deserve to live and I know you’re at the top of my list.”
In another email, Scanlan wrote, “I want you to know I’ll be watching you. I want you to have me in the back of your mind at all times. You’ll never know where I am, and Nebraska isn’t that far away. I will haunt you the rest of my life.”
The same email stated, “Every Summer I’ll be at Merrit and I won’t say when, where, or if I’m near you. I’ll remind you in June EVERY YEAR. Lol.”
The woman also said Scanlan had been contacting her immediate and extended family attempting to get them to tell her to talk to him.
An arrest warrant was issued for Scanlan on Dec. 12, 2023. He was booked into the Buffalo County Jail on March 20.
