Jared Franke

A 19-year-old Columbia man who was placed on probation last week and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device that prevents him from contact with victims he had stalked was arrested Monday for violating probation.

In addition to two years of probation, Jared M. Franke is prohibited from entering all school grounds in Columbia as well as the Country Crossings subdivision north of Gilmore Lake Road. Franke is also prohibited from contacting five families and a female as part of his sentencing, and cannot reside in any home with firearms present.

It took only a few days for Franke to violate the terms of his probation.

“GPS indicated Franke entered the ‘hot zone’ associated with the (victim’s) residence yesterday, and we didn’t hesitate to file a petition to revoke his probation,” Monroe County State’s Attorney Chris Hitzemann said Tuesday morning.  “He’s back to being held on $250,000 bond, 10 percent to apply, and a hearing on whether his petition should be revoked will be held in the next couple weeks.”

Hitzemann explained how the electronic monitoring device was set up in the Franke case.

“In the event an individual on this system enters a ‘no-go’ zone, they are alerted through the device to leave the zone immediately,” Hitzemann said. “If that does not occur, local authorities and no-go zone designated individuals are contacted, and a 95 decibel siren on the device goes off.”

Hitzemann said the siren did not sound on the GPS monitoring device Monday, and local authorities were not contacted because Franke was outside of the “no-go” zone before it escalated to that step. Hitzemann added that his office did its due diligence before setting up the electronic monitoring arrangement.

“This agreement is the culmination of significant time spent corresponding with the victims involved in the various cases where Jared was a defendant, and entered into with their blessing,” he said. “As this is the first case in Monroe County that I know of where this type of device has been used, we brought down individuals from the company that does the monitoring to ensure everything was set up properly.”

Franke was charged with felony stalking following a November incident in the Country Crossings subdivision. Court information alleges that Franke, who resides on Meadow Court just outside of the subdivision, followed a young woman on Shadow Ridge Lane, surveilled her residence, and sent her a Snapchat message asking for sex. He also allegedly sent a threatening message to the woman’s father.

Franke’s bail was increased after it was learned he wrote a letter from jail containing language indicating he would shoot up a venue, later identifying Columbia High School specifically as a target.

Prior to the stalking incident, Franke was arrested Halloween night for misdemeanor aggravated assault and disorderly conduct after he allegedly chased several young trick-or-treaters while wearing a clown costume and carrying a steak knife in the same subdivision.

Franke was also ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation, complete all recommended treatment, and take all prescribed medications as part of his sentence.