On the morning of December 7th, a no-contact hearing was to be held in the Statesville courthouse where Mr. Mike Kubiniec was absolutely prepared to defend himself against harassment and stalking charges brought against him by Ms. Abby Trent, a fellow school board member.
Unfortunately, the hearing was rescheduled until February 12, 2024, at 9:30 am, causing Mr. Kubiniec to endure nine more weeks of slanderous speech against him by those who believe the hearsay charges are true, all without having seen any evidence. Many have already referred to Mr. Kubiniec as a stalker in a local newspaper and in social media, based solely on the story of someone angry about a voter residency question.
The events that Ms. Trent considers to be harassing and stalking are: first, entering the driveway and photographing the vacant house in which she no longer resides, second, receiving a mailed envelope containing school board-related documents from Mr. Kubiniec that was forwarded from Trent’s then empty residence address of record, and third, contacting an unidentified member of Trent’s family by phone.
Mr. Kubiniec has admitted to sending these same confidential documents by certified mail, including the tracking option, to each of the school board members, the school superintendent and the board attorney on last October 30th. Trent was not singled out for some ulterior purpose.
Whether any of these accusations—even if they can be proven—can legitimately be considered harassment or stalking must await a judgement by the court on February 12th. The legal standards applied to a no-contact order are quite high, and common sense suggests that not one of these charges actually constitutes stalking because Mr. Kubiniec has had no physical proximity with Ms. Trent, other than during school board meetings.
Unless Trent reveals new accusations with solid evidence during the upcoming hearing, it’s unlikely a no-contact or stalking verdict against Mike Kubiniec will be forthcoming.
How many of the people who have believed these charges, and have considered Kubiniec guilty, and have tarnished his reputation will then publicly apologize to him after he is exonerated?
Paula and Edward Mimnaugh
