FBI affidavit details hundreds of calls, explicit images sent to victim’s friends, break-in of her car, and a death threat sent via Instagram LEXINGTON, Ky. — A 24-year-old Lexington man is in federal custody this week after the FBI accused him of waging an escalating, months-long stalking ca mpaign against an ex-girlfriend — one that allegedly included hundreds of unwanted phone calls, sexually explicit images distributed to the woman’s friends and apparent family members, a break-in of her car, and a message threatening to choke her to death. Logan Peel was arrested April 1 on a federal criminal complaint charging him with stalking, a felony that carries up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He made his initial appearance April 3 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward B. Atkins in Frankfort, where he was ordered held in custody after federal prosecutors asked for pretrial detention. A detention hearing and preliminary hearing are both set for April 13. Noel Caldwell, a Lexington defense attorney, was appointed to represent Peel. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aubrey Girouard is prosecuting the case. ‘I’m just getting started’ According to a 15-page sworn affidavit by FBI Special Agent Bethany Harmon, the victim first reported Peel’s behavior to law enforcement on Sept. 12, 2025, telling officers he had been harassing her since she ended their intimate relationship. The harassment began Aug. 1, 2025, the affidavit states, when Peel showed up at the victim’s Lexington residence and refused to leave until her father arrived. About two weeks later, anonymous Instagram accounts posted disparaging comments on the victim’s work page, including allegations of drug use. The victim told investigators she believed the posts were from Peel based on their content. Then came the deluge. On Sept. 12 alone, the victim received 11 calls from an Instagram account called “bluegrassbackup,” the affidavit states. She answered some and recognized Peel’s voice, telling him to stop contacting her. A search warrant served on Meta for a related account, “bluegrassmelts,” returned records matching Peel’s birthday and a phone number previously linked to him in a Lexington police collision report, according to the affidavit. Messages from the account to the victim began Aug. 15, 2025, with an obscene insult. When the victim told him to leave her alone, the account replied: “You’re not done” and “I’m just getting started.” The account made more than 100 audio call attempts to the victim through Instagram, the affidavit states. Explicit images, harassment of friends and co-workers The campaign extended well beyond the victim herself, the affidavit alleges. Beginning Aug. 15, 2025, Peel allegedly sent sexually explicit images of the victim to one of her friends via Instagram direct messages. The friend, identified as M.W., told law enforcement she deleted the messages and blocked the account, but kept receiving requests from new accounts she suspected were controlled by Peel. Peel also allegedly sent pornographic images and threatening text messages to a phone number that had previously belonged to the victim’s mother, the affidavit states. The woman who now holds that number, identified as S.B., reported receiving explicit images, sexual remarks, and harassing messages for three to four months. One message read, “Your daughter is a whore” — though S.B. does not have a daughter. Investigators determined the images depicted the victim. The victim also told the FBI that Peel had accessed her Facebook account without permission and used it to send nude photos of her to her friends, according to the affidavit. She believes his goal was to “ruin” her life. At the victim’s workplace, the situation grew severe enough that a manager filed a police report on March 12, 2026. The manager told investigators the business had received hundreds of calls from Peel, who phoned multiple times a day asking for the victim. When staff refused to give information, Peel told them he would “get as many phone numbers as needed” and keep calling, the affidavit states. He had also obtained personal cell numbers of staff members and their spouses. Since Jan. 1, 2026 alone, Peel had called individual employees nearly 100 times, according to the manager. Peel also submitted 11 job applications to the victim’s employer through Indeed between Jan. 26 and March 27, 2026, for positions ranging from sous chef to sales manager, the affidavit states. The phone number on his most recent application matched the number used to send explicit images to S.B. Break-in, threats, and a death message The alleged conduct escalated sharply in late March. On March 27, the victim reported that someone had broken into her car, rummaged through it, and stolen her birth certificate and a Strawberry Shortcake stuffed animal. She also saw Peel at her workplace that night — the first time she had physically seen him since August 2025, the affidavit states. He left before police arrived. Shortly after the break-in, the victim received text messages from an unknown number thanking her “for the strawberry shortcake” and taunting her that her “car hazards are on.” The messages also included the words “baby killer,” according to the affidavit and screenshots provided to law enforcement. Other messages, captured in screenshots and included in the affidavit, show escalating threats. In one exchange from an unknown number, the sender told the victim he would never stop, that he could generate unlimited phone numbers, and that once he got a car, he would dedicate his time to following her and place a GPS tracker on her vehicle. In another, the sender wrote: “You don’t want to sleep real bad.” Voicemails left on March 28 and 29 were more explicit. In one, a caller said he would “follow you wherever you are.” In another: “You got a couple hours to turn your thing off before I come looking for you. We are not done talking.” Most alarming to investigators was a message sent via the Instagram account “logan.peel_,” in which the sender told the victim he wished he could put his hands around her neck and squeeze until there was no life left, according to the affidavit. The victim told the FBI she was afraid Peel would kill her if given the chance. The victim also disclosed a history of physical violence, telling agents that Peel had pushed her down the stairs and slapped her before they broke up. Confrontation and arrest Law enforcement went to Peel’s listed address early on the morning of March 30. When his sister answered the door and said he was asleep, Peel fled through a bedroom window, the affidavit states. Officers waited, and when he returned, they interviewed him. During the interview, Peel admitted to sending messages and voicemails to the victim from multiple phone numbers, the affidavit states. He confirmed he had been in the parking lot of the victim’s apartment complex the day before, acknowledged calling her workplace “many times,” and admitted breaking into her car and stealing the stuffed animal, which he returned to officers. When confronted with the text messages and voicemails, Peel initially gave no response but eventually said “I get it.” He agreed his behavior was escalating and said he would stop. He did not. According to the affidavit, Peel continued contacting the victim as recently as March 31, even after police had warned him to stop. The federal complaint was filed April 1, and Peel was arrested the same day. An arrest warrant filed in the case confirms it was executed that date. A criminal complaint is an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. The post Lexington Man Charged With Federal Stalking After Months-Long Campaign of Threats, Harassment appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less