Vice Mayor Accused In Polk County Of Stalking

FORT MEADE, FL -- The vice mayor of a Florida community has been charged with aggravated stalking after she allegedly left a number of profanity-laced voice messages on a woman's phone with whom she suspected her husband was having an inappropriate relationship. In one of the messages, Maurice Nelson Campbell of Fort Meade, Florida allegedly declared: "And this is Maurice Campbell, and I approve that (expletive) message, and you can believe that."

The 59-year-old Campbell was arrested Tuesday by Polk County Sheriff's deputies on a charge of aggravated stalking.

"The arrest followed an investigation of a complaint from the victim, who told detectives that the two women had known each other for years, and Campbell had repeatedly harassed her, accusing the victim of having an intimate relationship with Campbell's husband," according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

"The victim had contacted law enforcement about the harassment in the past, but refrained from pursuing criminal charges after Campbell would stop harassing," the sheriff's office said.

Campbell had been arrested in the past on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Jacksonville, shoplifting in Orlando and petty larceny-failure to appear in Orange County, Florida, according to the sheriff's office.

"The victim told detectives that on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, she received
calls at 4:46 p.m. and 7:13 p.m., from a phone number belonging to Campbell's
husband, which she did not answer," the sheriff's office said. "A third call was made at 11:55 p.m., and the victim answered, and she immediately recognized the voice on the phone as being Ms. Campbell, so she disconnected."

The sheriff's office said the victim also received calls at 11:59 p.m. and two more at 12:49
a.m., which she didn't answer.

"The victim turned her phone off for the rest of the night, then awoke to find
three missed calls from Campbell's phone, along with three voicemails from Ms.
Campbell (two from her phone, and a third from an unknown number), all from
the early morning hours of Feb. 9," the sheriff's office said.

The voicemail messages also included a threat to cause the victim physical harm.

In one message, Campbell allegedly said: "I'll beat your (expletive) (expletive) down, you trifling (expletive), stinking (expletive) (expletive). You rotten (expletive), you rotten
(expletive)," the sheriff's office said.

The victim told detectives that she believes the vice mayor uses her position on the Fort Meade City Commission to intimidate her.

"The victim has put up with this harassment for quite some time, and she
finally reached a breaking point. This is not proper behavior for anyone, let
alone an elected official," explained Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. "Leaving the voicemails, especially one that sounded like the end of a campaign commercial, wasn't good judgement either."