A Tampa Bay, Florida woman has been arrested and charged with stalking Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell.
The Tampa Bay Times reports 32-year-old Jessica Leigh Robbins was arrested Friday in Tampa by the FBI.
According to a federal complaint that charges the woman with stalking, Cornell and his wife pulled their children out of New York public schools, fearing that Robbins would try to hurt them; the couple also believe she may have tried to enter their other home in Miami last fall.
Robbins met Cornell at a fan event in 2008 or 2009 and confronted the singer in such a way that it raised security concerns.It was later learned that the woman posted videos on the Web discussing the encounter and alleging that Cornell had plagiarized her writings. She further claimed to be the mother of one of the couple's children. An FBI investigation found evidence that Robbins' phone had been used to report Cornell's wife for child abuse.
Cornell's website administrator told authorities that Robbins often posts more than 100 messages a day about the couple, using at least 37 different user names on social media platforms.
At her first court appearance, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas G. Wilson barred her from going within 1,000 feet of the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater at the Florida State Fairgrounds, where Soundgarden is scheduled to perform August 11, or from having contact with the family or the band.
Wilson granted her release from federal custody on $50,000 bail but ordered her to wear an ankle monitor and stay off the Internet. A summary of Friday's hearing states that she has bipolar disorder.
Read more about the case at the Tampa Bay Times here.
Cornell and Soundgarden are currently playing shows on summer tour of North America with Nine Inch Nails.
See also:
Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell interviewed by Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue
Soundgarden: 20th anniversary of Superunknown featured on In The Studio
VIDEO: Pearl Jam guitarist joins Soundgarden in The Netherlands
VIDEO: Soundgarden perform on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon
Search Soundgarden at hennemusic
