Byron man accused again of cyberstalking, threatening woman he battered in 2022

OREGON — A Byron man, who prosecutors say has sent hundreds of emails to a woman despite being ordered by a judge to have no contact with her, will remain in custody despite his arguments that he should be released to seek mental health treatment.

Andrew Gornick, 42, appeared in court Feb. 14 on 16 new charges of stalking, cyberstalking and harassment through electronic communication – all felony offenses that prosecutors say happened in January.

Assistant State’s Attorney Allison Huntley also told Judge John “Ben” Roe that her office has a current petition to revoke Gornick’s sentence of probation for a domestic battery he pleaded guilty to in 2023.

In that domestic battery case, filed in November 2022, Gornick pleaded guilty and was sentenced in May 2023 to 24 months probation and ordered to pay $1,674 in fines and fees. Part of that sentence ordered him to have no contact with the victim.

Gornick was then charged in April 2024 with cyberstalking and electronic harassment in a series of emails in December 2023 that prosecutors say he knew would cause a “reasonable person to fear for their safety or the safety of a third person.”

The 2024 cyberstalking charge accuses Gornick of typing that he would kill a third person. Prosecutors say that incident occurred on or about Dec. 13. He is also accused of typing that he would drown the woman and of sending a “suggestion or proposal which is obscene” with an intent to offend.

Eight counts of harassment accuse Gornick of sending to the woman more lewd emails with obscene images with the intent to offend.

On Feb. 14, Gornick faced 16 new charges when he appeared in court with his attorney, Assistant Ogle County Public Defender Eric Morrow. Gornick is charged with stalking, cyberstalking and harassment through electronic communication.

The female victim in all the new cases is the same female listed in the previous charges. A male, also listed in some of the charges, is described in court records as a friend of the woman.

At the Feb. 14 hearing, Huntley told Roe that Gornick’s behavior had “escalated” and estimated he had sent 174 emails from Jan. 18-21 to the woman.

Huntley said Gornick’s emails had gone to the woman’s junk email folder because she had blocked him in an attempt to ignore his communications.

“When she saw the emails she called the Byron police,” said Huntley. “He [Gornick] is an immediate safety risk. He threatened to burn down her home. She is scared in her own home.”

Huntley said some of the emails are obscene in nature and clearly made to threaten the woman and her friend.

Court records accuse Gornick of writing “Your life is in jeopardy,” “You will die today” and “Coming to burn your house down.” One of the charges says Gornick threatened more physical harm to the man and woman, accompanying the threat with a photo of two knives.

Other charges quote Gornick as saying “I will serve 25 years to make a point”...”I’m killing him” [...] This morning!!!!!”, “I will go to prison” and “I am killing both of you.”

Huntley told Roe that Gornick was ordered not to have any contact with the woman in the 2022 case and in the case filed in April 2024.

“Now he’s sent her thousands of emails,” said Huntley. “There are no conditions that can be set. The defendant has sent these while he’s on probation and while there is an active petition to revoke his probation.”

Morrow agreed the alleged messages were “alarming in nature” but argued for treatment for Gornick rather than being held in the Ogle County Jail as his cases proceed through the court system.

“These are alarming in nature, but he clearly has some serious mental health issues going on,” Morrow said, adding that Gornick had been admitted to a Rockford psychiatric treatment facility for 72 hours from Jan. 22-26 for a “mental health crisis.”

Morrow said several new medications had been administered during his hospitalization. “I talked to his mother and she says he has stabilized,” Morrow told Roe.

Morrow also told Roe that the alleged victim had agreed to write a letter of support for Gornick asking he be able to undergo mental health treatment.

“I don’t want in any way to deprecate these allegations,” Roe said. “They are shocking. But the question is what conditions could be imposed. This is a mental health case and we need to treat it like that.”

Huntley disagreed, arguing that Gornick should have pursued treatment after being sentenced to probation in 2023.

Roe agreed.

“That plea agreement had a number of conditions, one being to have no contact with the victim and another to cooperate with any psychological assessment. Psychological treatment was part of that order,” Roe said. “I understand mental health issues and crisis that go on with people that come before the court, and this is most likely a mental health issue, but the defendant should have sought treatment one and one half years ago.

“This is disturbing and voluminous threatening. He’s threatening to kill and even talking about the sentence he would get. This is a mass amount of emails over the last few months. Things were escalating and they weren’t being addressed. There was ample opportunity to address the mental health issues before they escalated,” Roe said, adding that the victim of the threats has relied on the judicial system to protect her.

Gornick was remanded to the Ogle County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court at 10 a.m. Feb. 19 for a preliminary hearing.

Class 4 felonies have a sentencing range of one to 6 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections followed by six months of mandatory supervised release; probation of up to 30 months also can be ordered.