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NEW YORK — CNN talk show host Nancy Grace has obtained a court order that directs a mental patient she accused of stalking her to leave her alone.
The man is "apparently obsessed with Ms. Grace, believes that he loves her, insists that she can solve all of his problems and will help him to meet with Osama bin Laden," Grace's court papers say.
Grace got the temporary restraining order Wednesday, a day after she filed a request for a permanent injunction against the alleged stalker, Joseph Raymond Loegering who, court papers say, has been confined in a Manhattan hospital's psychiatric ward since Dec. 2.
A spokeswoman for Grace, Janine Iamunno, issued a statement Wednesday confirming the temporary restraining order was sought and was granted, but she had no further comment.
Grace's complaint asks the court to bar Loegering from contacting her, from approaching her, her home or her workplace and from harassing, menacing, stalking or committing any other offense against her.
It also asks for unspecified punitive monetary damages and attorney's fees.
Grace, a former prosecutor whose eponymous CNN show deals with law-related subjects, says in court papers filed Tuesday that since Nov. 18, Loegering, whom she has never met, "has engaged in a continuous pattern of harassment and stalking of plaintiff by e-mail and telephone and by attempting to enter her place of employment."
On Nov. 18, court papers say, Loegering sent Grace an e-mail telling her he was coming to New York to see her. "I would like to talk to you as soon as posible (sic) so that we can work things out," court papers quote the e-mail message as saying.
Loegering allegedly asked Grace to call him at a telephone number with a Missouri area code.
Security staff at CNN's New York office and Grace's staff were alerted, court papers say, and around 9 p.m. on Dec. 2 Loegering arrived at the TV network's headquarters and asked to see her. Security staff refused to let him in.
Outside, Loegering was approached by two police officers who believed he was emotionally disturbed, court papers say. Police called Emergency Medical Service technicians, who took him to St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital Center.
There are no known criminal charges pending against Loegering. It could not be determined whether he had a lawyer.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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