He was sent to jail for harassing her. A year later, the threatening messages started again

A Kent man convicted earlier this year for threatening a Bellingham woman was arrested and charged again for allegedly using fake social media accounts to threaten the same woman, according to Whatcom County Superior Court records.

Jason Scott Harding, 45, was charged Sept. 26 with stalking, cyberstalking, felony harassment and violating a no-contact order. Harding’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 26. He remains in the Whatcom County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail.

In late September 2017, Bellingham police responded to a then 21-year-old woman’s apartment in the Sunnyland neighborhood shortly after midnight for the report of threats coming from Harding.

The woman had broken off contact with Harding and he became upset, according to court records.

Whatcom Dispatch received a phone call from another woman known to Harding who said she believed the 21-year-old was in danger because Harding had said he was on his way to Bellingham to “put her in a box,” records state.

The 21-year-old was unaware of the threats until police came to her apartment.

Over several days in late September and early October of that year, Harding sent her hundreds of text messages where he was “angry, apologetic and almost suicidal,” records state.

Harding also sent nude photos of the woman to her friends and told her he was in Bellingham to find her. Investigators pinged Harding’s cell phone to determine his location and found that he was in the Bellingham area near the woman’s house, records state. Harding also threatened to kill the woman and her boyfriend, according to court records.

Harding was convicted of two counts of felony harassment in March 2018, as well as stalking in Whatcom County District Court. He was sentenced to six months in jail for the felonies, but received six months of credit for time served prior to his case resolving. For the stalking charge, Harding was given a 364-day suspended sentence with 1 ½ years of probation, according to court records.

Harding also had a warrant for his arrest in King County for a drug possession charge and served 12 days in jail there, according to King County Jail records.

In late September of this year, the woman started receiving messages from a Facebook account where the person claimed to be one of Harding’s close friends. The woman suspected the account, which had been created a day prior to her receiving the messages, was fake and was set up by Harding.

The woman said she received messages that became increasingly more threatening and stated “there’s a whole group of people out for you” and “nice place you got there,” records state.

Another account, also suspected to be fake, started sending Facebook messages to the woman. This time, the messages included detailed descriptions of specific threats, such as how Harding was planning on allegedly tampering with the woman or her family’s vehicles, according to court records.

Investigators believe Harding created the fake accounts and used them to harass the woman and other women known to him, records state.