[IMAGE CREDIT: iStock / rypson ]
[Original Publish Date: 01/27/20]
(Have news tips for LLN?… 352Tips@gmail.com.)
SORRENTO, Florida — A local man who has claimed for years the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax, was arrested on a warrant for unlawful possession of personal information involving one of the victim’s father’s, early Monday, according to a probable cause affidavit written by a detective with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Wolfgang Halbig, 73, of Sorrento is accused of releasing Leonard Ponzer’s social security number and date of birth to hundreds of people via email. Ponzer’s son, Noah, was only 6 years old when he was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012. Along with Noah, 26 other people were killed, including 20 children, by Adam Lanza, who took his own life.
Ponzer sued Halbig in 2015 regarding an email containing personal information Ponzer sent to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi expressing his concerns about a website Halbig authored. Halbig later published the email on his unnamed website, causing alleged “impairment of reputation and standing in the community, personal humiliation and mental anguish and suffering,” according to the lawsuit filed in Lake County Circuit Court. Ponzer was seeking an injunction requiring Halbig to remove the email from his website. The case was dismissed with prejudice in November 2017, more than two years after it was filed.
Halbig was arrested at his home early Monday and released from the Lake County Jail on $5,000 bond.
_______________________________________
Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
