By: Mary Beth Almond | Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle | Published January 3, 2024
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — A man from Massachusetts is being held in the Oakland County Jail for allegedly harassing a Bloomfield Township official and sending threatening emails about him to hundreds of others.
Marc Aisen, 47, of Marblehead, Massachusetts, was extradited to Michigan in December and was arraigned in 48th District Court on two counts of using a computer to commit a crime Dec. 20.
He was given a $50,000 cash bond, ordered to have no contact with the victim or their associates, and must wear a tether if released. He is also not allowed to use a computer.
Police say Aisen sent “threatening and accusatory emails” to a Bloomfield Township treasurer official between July and October 2023, accusing the official of child sexual exploitation, being affiliated with Hamas, and “other defamatory accusations.”
Bloomfield Township Treasurer Michael Schostak confirmed that the emails were about him.
“He just sent out emails to people at the township and in the community, making allegations about me that were disgusting and totally false,” Schostak said. “I didn’t respond. I just felt, ‘Why feed the troll? He’ll go away.’ But he never did. He just kept increasing the number of people that were getting emails.”
Police said Aisen then began emailing other township officials and over 190 recipients, including local societies and organizations, the media, as well as the victim’s family and children’s school.
“I said, ‘OK. Enough is enough. He’s crossed the line,’” Schostak said. “I talked to different attorneys, and there’s the element of free speech, and that, as an elected official, I have to accept a certain level of harassment, unfortunately. But, when he contacted my ex-wife and when he contacted my children’s school, he crossed the line from anything remotely political to completely personal.”
After Schostak notified the Bloomfield Township Police Department, detectives contacted Aisen and ordered him to cease and desist communications, but Aisen continued sending emails, police said.
“It's unfortunate that we’ve reached a point in our politics where elected officials can be treated this way and thought of as community property that you can just harass when you’re not happy,” Schostak said. “It's OK to disagree with somebody, it's OK to vigorously disagree with an elected official, but there is still a line, and you shouldn’t cross that line.”
Aisen, who is currently lodged at the Oakland County Jail, did not have an attorney on file at press time.
A preliminary exam is scheduled for Jan. 8.