An Internet connection at the home of a former city councilman has been connected to Web sites that link a lesbian couples' names to online pornography, according to court documents.
Former Hollister city councilman Joe Felice's home digital subscriber line was identified by telephone records as the source of Web sites with disparaging remarks about Tracie Cone and Anna Marie dos Remedios, owners of a weekly newspaper called the Pinnacle.
The Web site referred to the couple as "the filth from up north."
Felice did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
The Web pages were traced through the Yahoo hosting servers to a Pacific Bell DSL line in Hollister. The documents were provided by SBC Communications after they were subpoenaed as part of a $6 million defamation lawsuit filed by Cone and dos Remedios against unnamed "John Does." The suit sought to identify the author of the Web sites and get a public apology for their content.
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"The idea that this mean, hateful attack could have come from an elected official, someone who is supposed to represent the whole community, could have disturbed me even more," Cone said. "We're scared."
Felice has been a vocal detractor of the Pinnacle's stance on growth issues for the area and has said previously that the Web sites appear to be designed to implicate him as their author. He said last month the Web sites were likely posted on the Internet by one of his supporters.
The Web sites have every right to coexist in a world with the Pinnacle, Felice said last month.
"It's freedom of speech. It's no different than what's printed in the Pinnacle each week," he said then.<
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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