Ellicott City Man Arrested In Texas For Cyberstalking Nun From Louisiana: Police

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — A Howard County suspect accused of cyberstalking a Catholic nun in Louisiana for years has been arrested in Texas, authorities said.

The nun met the suspect — John William Modler Jr., 57, of Ellicott City — at a monastery, she told law enforcement. The victim contacted the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana in May 2024 to report receiving "very vulgar and improper emails" believed to have come from Modler dating back to 2018, said St. Landry Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz.

"Modler was at a monastery in the St. Landry Parish area at the same time as the complainant and upon their leaving, allegedly used deceitful tactics to obtain the location of the Sister as she traveled," Guidroz said.

The nun had saved more than 100 emails sent by Modler, she said, including some in which he used an "alias while posing as a priest," Guidroz said in a press release.

The investigation revealed “multiple active arrest warrants from multiple states” linking Modler to larceny and fraud, Guidroz added.

Modler lives in Ellicott City, but was captured in Texas and extradited to Louisiana. He faces a felony charge of cyberstalking/electronic mail, the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a Feb. 24 news release.

St. Landry Parish is about a 60-mile drive east from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Anyone with additional information about this crime is asked to call the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office at 337-948-6516.