Peru man charged with making ‘terroristic’ Facebook threats against illegal immigrants

A Peru man could face up to a year in jail if convicted of making what police termed “terroristic threats” on Facebook.

Christian E. Leek, 31, was charged with four misdemeanors led by false personation, a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to 364 days in jail, La Salle police said in a Monday news release.

Leek also is charged with three counts of disorderly conduct, all Class C misdemeanors carrying up to 30 days.

He is scheduled to appear May 29 in La Salle County Circuit Court before Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr.

Leek was charged May 9 following an investigation launched Feb. 26 after police received a report of “multiple terroristic threats being made against ‘illegal immigrants’ in the La Salle-Peru area.” The individual was using the Facebook profile name of “Floyd H-ball.”

Peru police fielded similar reports around the same timeframe.

Detectives launched a joint investigation and said they were able to determine the location and identity of the person using that Facebook profile, resulting in a search warrant being executed at a rural La Salle motel room.

“During the course of the investigation detectives determined there was no credible threat to the public and that the Facebook profile was fraudulent,” police said in February. “Detectives also determined the individual’s picture that was depicted in the Facebook Profile: Floyd H-ball had been ‘fished’ (stolen) from another Facebook profile and was not the actual picture of the individual making the threats and comments.”