Aurora man admits threatening Playmate on MySpace

An Aurora man will spend a week in the Kane County Jail and 2½ years on probation for using an Internet social networking site to threaten a Playboy Playmate, authorities said Wednesday.

Edson F. Diaz, 20, pleaded guilty to cyberstalking Jennifer Walcott, Miss August 2001 and the wife of Chicago Bears safety Adam Archuleta, Kane County prosecutors said.

Diaz was accused of logging on to Walcott's MySpace page several times in spring and summer of 2007, writing in posts he was watching and would hurt her, prosecutor Justin Fitzsimmons said.

"The Internet is an extremely useful tool," Fitzsimmons said in a statement. "However, when it is used as a weapon, as the defendant did in this case, there are significant consequences."

Walcott lives in Arizona, and after she read the threat, she contacted Playboy's security, who traced the messages to Diaz and alerted local police.

He was arrested again April 8 after police learned Diaz had sent Walcott additional MySpace posts in December, apologizing and asking her to drop the charges.

In addition to the lone cyberstalking offense, Diaz, of the 1000 block of North Avenue, also pleaded guilty to harassment of a witness.

The terms of his plea deal prohibit Diaz from contacting Walcott, who recently gave birth to a child, and accessing the Internet except to use e-mail.

He also must take a psychological exam, prosecutors said.

Diaz was sentenced to 60 days in the county jail, but receives day-for-day credit in addition to 22 days he's already served.