Rachel Gronback

Eight thousand miles is a long way to travel for closure, but that’s how far Rachel Gronback is willing to go and farther.

Gronback, 31, lives in New Zealand and writes a blog about “fashion, online shopping and body positivity.”

In late November, Gronback said she started receiving inappropriate sexual messages and photos on her Instagram account.

After filing a report with the Lawrence Police Department, Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson told Gronback late in April that his office is prepared to file a harassment charge against the suspect.

There was just one catch.

Rachel Gronback

Before a criminal charge can be filed, Branson told Gronback she would have to be willing to appear in court in the case of a trial. She would also have to shoulder the bulk of the international travel expenses.

Unable to afford the trip herself, Gronback said she was soon contacted by Ron Wilson, a Lawrence area resident who was willing to foot the bill for her travels. And with a bit more outside help, she’s determined to see the case through to the end.

“I want to have my experience treated with the seriousness it deserves and not be minimized into something I should just accept as a part of being a woman online,” Gronback wrote in an email. “It’s important that what I experienced is clearly communicated as criminal behavior.”

Hearing about Gronback’s situation and recognizing how much of a financial hardship international travel presents, Wilson said he wanted to lend a hand.

“She lives in New Zealand. I have friends in Australia; I know it costs a small fortune to get here,” he said.

In addition, noting Gronback’s negative experience with a Lawrence resident, Wilson said he wanted her to see there are good people who live in the area as well if she needs to make the trip.

“She should be able to see the good stuff, the bad stuff, she might see a drunk or two, ” he said. “We’re people, like everybody else in the world and I’ve learned that from my travels. We’re all the same underneath.”

Last winter, Gronback said the sexual messages and photos flowed in for several weeks. She wrote about the experience on her blog and was able to identify the suspect as a man who was then a student at Lawrence’s Veritas Christian School.

Kelli Huslig, Veritas administrator, said in January that she would not discuss student-related issues.

The suspect is not a minor, police said.

Gronback said she received an outpouring of messages from people across the world, Some offered their support and others praised her for bringing the issue to light.

Others, however, defended the suspect.

One message, apparently from a friend of the suspect’s family, sticks out in particular, Gronback said.

The message says although the suspect is 19 years old, he is still a kid and noted that Gronback has posted pictures of herself on her blog in form-fitting clothing, underwear and swimming suits.

“If I had a daughter, and she had a blog like that, I think I would tell her to be totally prepared for unwanted attention of the pornographic type,” the message says.

“It’s this kind of attitude that makes me realise I need to see this through to the end,” Gronback wrote in an email about the letter.

Other parts of the ordeal have also presented ongoing and emotional challenges as well, Gronback said.

“There have definitely been times where I’ve said out loud to friends and family that while I wholeheartedly believe in what I am doing, I wish it was happening to someone else,” she said.

The criminal charge that can be filed against the suspect is harassment by telecommunications device, a misdemeanor, Branson said. And the suspect is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution the right to face his accuser, which is why Gronback may have to come to Lawrence.

Branson told Gronback she may not have to come to Lawrence at all. The case could be settled through a plea deal or a diversion process, but she would be needed in the case of a trial and his office could not file the charge without a commitment from her.

If the suspect is convicted, he could face up to a year in jail and/or a fine up to $2,500.

As of Thursday morning a criminal charge has not been filed against the suspect in Douglas County District Court.

Branson said now that Gronback has confirmed that she will come to Lawrence his office will be in touch with her over the next several weeks.

The bulk of the district attorney’s travel budget is used for felony cases, which is why Gronback would be reimbursed only for travel to and from the Kansas City International Airport and for her lodging in town.

And although Wilson is offering Gronback a significant financial head start, she’s still shy of the required funds.

Costs for food, layover accommodations and other day-to-day expenses still loom, Gronback said. In addition she hopes to bring along somebody — her husband or a close friend, depending on the timing — to help her through the ordeal if she must come to Lawrence.

“The thought of doing this alone is daunting, so I intend to bring a support person, which increases some costs,” she said.

To help pay for the additional expenses Gronback set up a crowdfunding account in the hopes that others who have heard her story might contribute and help her come to Lawrence.

“The experience has been challenging — unwittingly becoming the poster child for online harassment wasn’t at all what I anticipated when I wrote my blog post,” she wrote in an email. “However my story has been used by schools both in Kansas and NZ to talk to young people about social media, about what is considered inappropriate behaviour, and about what the outcome of harassing people online can be, and you can’t help but feel humbled by having that kind of reach and hopefully possible impact on young people.”

Gronback’s crowdfunding account can be found online at generosity.com/fundraising/support-rachel-s-fight-against-online-harassment.