By James Tinley
Register Staff
MILFORD — A Shelton man who struck “terror and panic” into the hearts of a city family he allegedly called, claiming to have abducted their daughter, now faces criminal harassment charges.
The woman was not harmed or abducted, but the family told police they were terrified as they tried to locate their adult daughter after receiving the call.
Authorities said they believe the family in Milford is only one of many that were terrorized by threatening phone calls allegedly placed by Charles Dubord, shown above in a photo released by police.
Dubord, 55, of 64 Elm St., Shelton, was arraigned at Superior Court Wednesday after being arrested on a warrant charging him with two counts of second-degree harassment.
More charges are expected to be filed as other police departments are continuing their investigations and applying for arrest warrants, authorities said.
Dubord is believed to have made harassing phone calls to parents of women and girls that were featured in local newspapers in several communities, including Shelton, North Haven, Fairfield, Monroe, Seymour and others.
In some phone calls placed to parents, the caller explicitly described how he was sexually torturing their daughter, according to the arrest warrant.
In the phone call placed to the Milford family, Dubord allegedly told the woman’s parents that her car broke down and that he “had her.”
Fairfield police Capt. Gary MacNamara said his department is in the process of applying for an arrest warrant for Dubord and is investigating at least five calls placed over the past three years that fit the same modus operandi.
The caller first asks for information about the girl, before the calls become more disturbing and graphic, MacNamara said.
“These calls are very disturbing to the individuals and their families,” MacNamara said.
Detective Thomas Federowicz, Shelton police spokesman, said his department’s investigation is ongoing with mutual aid from other communities’ police departments.
Shelton police are asking anyone who has received a similar harassing phone call to contact them.
Police were able to link Dubord to the calls made from pay phones after a Derby convenience store attendant was able to get the license plate number and a good look at a man making a call. That man was later identified as Dubord after police told area convenience store and gas stations attendants to write down the license plate numbers of men making calls from their pay phones.
Police said the pay phone from the Derby convenience store was used to make harassing calls to Milford, Fairfield, North Haven and Shelton families.
Dubord is being held in lieu of $75,000 bail, a figure that Superior Court Judge John Cronan admitted is high for the relatively minor harassment charges. Cronan, however, said the amount was justified because of the “extremely disturbing” nature of the case and Dubord’s history of harassment.
He was previously convicted of two counts of threatening and harassment stemming from a 1999 Montville arrest for which he was sentenced to two years of probation.
He also served 120 days in jail and was given two more years of probation after receiving his second drunken driving conviction in 2002.
James Tinley can be reached at jtinley@nhregister.com or 876-3030.