Hunter
09/05/22
A Coralville woman who was fired for allegations of sexual harassment has been charged after messaging the alleged victim several times.
Police say 52-year-old Karen Ellyson of 21st Avenue Place was fired in July after some allegations of sexual harassment were made by the victim against her. She has contacted the man on multiple occasions despite him telling her to stop doing so.
Ellyson reportedly used Facebook Messenger to contact the man on August 24th and accused him of contacting one of her family members and told him to leave her family alone. The man responded the following evening and said he didn’t know what she was talking about and to leave him alone.
That allegedly set off a string of messages and attempted contacts by Ellyson. She again accused him of calling her brother, and sent another message stating “Dude, you’re 24, I’m 54; your accusations don’t make sense.” Ellyson allegedly sent another message stating that if she came to his house she would rape him. After a handful of additional messages, the man responded simply by stating, “do not come to my house.” Ellyson allegedly sent more messages into the next day, and tried calling the victim again at 12:43am the 26th. She then unsent the messages, but the victim had screen-shot them by then.
A warrant was issued on August 29th for Ellyson’s arrest and she was taken into custody later that day. A non-jury trial has been scheduled for September 21st. Ellyson faces up to 30 days in jail if convicted; a no-contact order was requested.