BULLYING, HARASSMENT AND DEFAMATION FROM UNEXPECTED SOURCES AS A SEX ADDICTION RECOVERY ACTIVIST
Anastasia (Staci) Sprout
…a person who habitually seeks to harm, coerce or intimidate those whom they perceive as vulnerable.
BECOMING A PUBLIC SEX (ADDICTION) EDUCATOR HAS RESULTED IN SOME MAJOR PUSHBACK…BUT I’M NOT QUITTING…
SOON AFTER I PUBLISHED MY MEMOIR AND GOT BUSY PROMOTING IT, I REALIZED I LOVED OFFERING PUBLIC EDUCATION ABOUT SEX/PORN ADDICTION AND RECOVERY.
IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE MY EFFORTS HAD ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION OF A (ONCE) WIDELY QUOTED INDIVIDUAL WHOSE RESEARCH IS OFTEN USED TO “DEBUNK” PORN ADDICTION…AND HER ASSOCIATES…AT LEAST TWO OF WHOM ARE EMPLOYED BY THE COMMERCIAL SEX INDUSTRY.
EVENTUALLY, I WAS ASKED TO GIVE SWORN TESTIMONY IN TWO DEFAMATION LAWSUITS AGAINST HER BY OTHERS, WHICH I AGREED TO - SHE IS BEING SUED FOR OVER $10 MILLION FOR DAMAGES. I ALSO SUPPORTED THE FUND-RAISING EFFORTS OF ONE OF HER VICTIMS.
NOW SHE’S FILED A BOGUS LAWSUIT AGAINST ME!
UPDATE: her lawsuit was dropped January 15, 2021 - as expected - for improper venue.
HERE IS MY TESTIMONY of the 13 MONTHS OF HER ATTACK:
This is a true and accurate account of the bullying, harassment, defamation and blame-shifting perpetrated by Nicole Prause to me, Staci Sprout
My name is Staci Sprout. I own two businesses, a private psychotherapy practice and Recontext Media, a publisher and platform for online education. I am writing to state that I have not defamed nor am I guilty of the wrongful allegations of libel or slander made against me by Nicole Prause. I created this statement to document her pattern of online harassment and defamation of me, starting in 2017. Her latest demand that I pay her $10,000 or she would take legal action against me felt like extortion...then she filed a small claims lawsuit in CA alleging that I am guilty of slander, libel and violating her protected victim status somehow. It is my belief that I have only sought to tell the truth about her online misconduct towards myself and colleagues I deeply respect.
In this letter I am summarizing my history of her attacks, false reports, and defamation. Far more evidence of her pattern of attacking and making false claims against not just me but many other professionals who disagree with her has also been carefully documented by the man she’s harassed the most (his “Stalker Log"), my colleague Gary Wilson, starting at least in 2013:
Nicole Prause’s Malicious Reporting and Malicious Use of Process (25 people/groups she’s gone after!)
Nicole Prause’s Unethical Harassment and Defamation of Gary Wilson & Others
Nicole Prause’s Unethical Harassment and Defamation of Gary Wilson & Others (page 2)
Nicole Prause’s Unethical Harassment and Defamation of Gary Wilson & Others (Page 3)
I have never met Ms. Prause in person, nor has she been a psychotherapy client of my private practice. After enduring her online attacks and false reports against me, I eventually began to stand up for myself. I published facts online about her harassment of me, disagreed with her opinions, and made true public statements as an online educator and activist. I also stood up for colleagues she has attacked. That is not defamation. Her recent demand letter and filing a small claims suit three days later appears to be more attempts to intimidate me, this time adding financial threats. She continually uses nuisance claims and deceptive complaints in systems and organizations, forcing me to defend myself. It is exhausting.
OUR FIRST ENCOUNTER: HER ONLINE BULLYING - 2017
My first experience with Ms. Prause was when she posted a critical tweet in response to one of mine in November 2017. She used the account “Liberos@NicoleRPrause” to publicly name me and disagree with something I had posted on my public twitter account. I responded to her as a comment on her twitter post to debate the issue. Within a few exchanges it was clear to me she was not interested in genuine dialogue. In fact, I experienced her as an intellectual bully, and I responded by immediately blocking her on twitter. I have a personal policy to block people who are abusive in any way, or attempt to be. If I had known I would be facing two years of harassment after that, I would have taken a screen shot of this first exchange.
INACCURATELY ACCUSING ME OF PRACTICING WITHOUT A LICENSE - 2018
Ms. Prause also made a false accusation on my public Facebook author page in 2018, after I posted an article from World Psychiatry, saying that I was “lying to line [my] pockets” and that I “should have had a complaint filed against [me]” and stating, “…oh, you’re not licensed. Well, that makes sense.” Her comment is greyed out below because I quickly blocked her on Facebook so she could no longer harass me there. My post was not about her at all, it was an article on the Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder diagnosis being considered by the World Health Organization – yet she personalizes so much of what I do as an online educator.
Her statement was untrue that I was practicing without a license. In fact I am a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in the state of Washington in good standing, first certified on 1/14/1997 and licensed on 7/22/2001.
Prause visits my Facebook page - greyed out because I immediately blocked her.
MS. PRAUSE FILES THREE FALSE NUISANCE COMPLAINTS AGAINST ME TO REGULATING BODIES - 2018
In the 25 years of practice since earning my Master’s Degree in Social Work, I have never had a complaint filed against me for any reason, until hers. Both of hers – after the first one was dropped without investigation, she quickly filed a second complaint, also dropped. Though I have never met Ms. Prause nor treated her for therapy, she has made three formal ethics complaints against me to my licensing or professional organizations. All three claims she reported were closed without investigation for having no merit:
1) An unfounded complaint to the WA Department of Health dated January 24, 2018, “closed without action.”
2) A second unfounded complaint to the WA Department of Health later that year, “closed without action.”
3) Another unfounded complaint to the National Association of Social Workers, where I am a member in good standing – also dropped without formal investigation.
Prause’s first bogus nuisance complaint to the WA State Department of Health, dropped without investigation.
Prause’s second bogus nuisance complaint to the WA State Department of Health, also dropped.
Yet a THIRD bogus nuisance complaint, also dropped, without investigation; this time to the National Association of Social Workers.
MS. PRAUSE IS SUED FOR DEFAMATION BY A COLLEAGUE FOR 10 MILLION DOLLARS, I CONTRIBUTE SWORN AFFIDAVIT - 2019
After being forced to address these false reports, even though they were all dropped without formal investigation, I sought support from other colleagues who had been similarly attacked by her – I know of more than a dozen, and there are far more out there I do not know. I was then asked to share my harassment experiences by a neurosurgeon colleague who had filed suit against her for defamation per se, for ten million dollars in damages. I agreed, and filed a sworn affidavit in this defamation lawsuit about my experiences up to that time.
MS. PRAUSE IS SUED A SECOND TIME FOR DEFAMATION - 2019
I have filed a second declaration for another defamation lawsuit against Ms. Prause by yet another victim of her relentless bullying. I was introduced to this young man by a mutual colleague, and felt concern for his suffering as a result of her harm to him. I offered to help him raise money for his legal campaign fundraiser, and recorded a video telling the truth about what’s been going on. To date he has received almost $100,000 in donations to support his case, for his legal fees. I suspect my activism on his behalf led to Ms. Prause escalating her targeting me to not just deceptive statements and false complaints, but now adding financial demands and legal intimidation.
MS. PRAUSE SENDS DEMAND LETTER FOR $10,000 - 2019
Ms. Prause then sent me a letter demanding that I owed her $10,000, for a list of claims that are either clearly false, or simply true things I have said. She sent a similar demand letter to a news organization that published an unflattering story about her, stating they owed her $10,000 also. Criticism based on true actions is not defamation, it is the outcome of being a public figure. She also sent a copy of this demand letter to yet another professional organization I belong to – the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health. She also sent them a “cease and desist” letter about me (and several others), because this organization had awarded me the “Annual Media Award” last year, implying they should silence me somehow. This felt like an attempt to humiliate me in front of the entire Board of an organization I belong to. Ms. Prause’s list of allegations are either untrue or not defamation. She often conflates general statements I have made with personal attacks against her, when I did not name her at all. Where is the evidence of this list of claims?
Prause demands $10,000, page 1
Prause demands $10,000, page 2
By the way - I am not the only person she has sent a letter to demanding $10K. Another was a journalist, Diana Davison, who published an article and video about the Prause/porn controversy, and I believe there are others out there who have been silenced by her threat. The journalist’s subsequent quote about her attempts to fact-check with Prause:
Prause said many things to me but none of her "evidence" actually supported her claims. In every instance the evidence reversed who the aggressor was. She basically accuses others of the exact things she herself did. I emailed with her, on the record, for almost a week.
Yet another threatening legal letter, this time to a journalist Diana Davison, who posted it on her twitter page. Look familiar? The article was not removed, and to date no lawsuit has been filed by Prause. More empty threats.
MS. PRAUSE FILES IMPROPER SMALL CLAIMS SUIT AGAINST ME IN CALIFORNIA - 2019
Three days after emailing me her demand for $10,000, she filed a small claims suit in California, suing me for $9999. Now I am legally forced to deal with this – a small claims suit in a city I do not live in, work in, nor own property in – for her baseless claims. I believe once again she is trying to use systems with nuisance false complaints to harass others she seeks to silence.
The hearing was scheduled for 2/13/2020 – I requested it be dismissed as inappropriate. It was then postponed until 3/20/20. Prause was instructed by the court to produce documented evidence that she has served me in the state of California or the case will be dropped. She has not, it will be, and I predict she won’t even show up for the hearing. This was not about seeking justice because she is the one who has committed the violations. I believe this malicious prosecution is part of her ongoing attempts to intimidate and harass me.
HER CONTINUED DEFAMATION – NOW PERPETRATED FROM A WHOLE GROUP OF “EXPERTS” - 2019
After reading her detailed false allegations and contemplating all the attacks that have continued to me personally since 2017, I find myself feeling anxious and vigilant for the next online attack. For example, an organization where Ms. Prause serves on the “experts” panel just recently posted this defamation about me on social media – after she’d filed in small claims court against me for making false statements against her!
This statement said “my group” (what group?) recently sued them (I have not sued this organization) and lost (I have not lost a suit with any organization). This group, called “Real Your Brain on Porn,” also said I advertise myself as in recovery from bipolar disorder (I do not, and have never been given that diagnosis).
Tweet about me from organization of which Prause is a key member.
So, finally, I wrote to her directly. In order to take further legal steps I had to, though I wish to avoid all contact with her forevermore:
My STOP HARASSING ME letter
Yet even after I sent the above letter, to the P.O. box address she herself sent me via her Cease and Desist letter, she continues and even escalates her defamation per se, by tweeting on a thread where I was talking with SOMEONE ELSE about the main object of her stalking, Gary Wilson. I was explaining why Gary has meticulously documented Prause’s bad behavior on his website.
Lie. I don’t have her physical address and have never posted it anywhere. More empty legal posturing…and baseless accusations of me: defamation per se.
Hmmmm…could she be referring to me, perhaps?
NEW ADDITION, AS OF MAY 12, 2020:
LIES, LIES, LIES.
On my 50th birthday, no less, Prause mailed a letter sent to my Seattle office where she poured gasoline on her fire of legal deception. She asserts “under penalty of perjury under California state law that the information in the above court document is true and correct.” But it is all made up!
I don’t regularly or ever get paid to work in California.
I did not come to California to commit defamation.
I have not written for 2 years “approx monthly” for a CA company.
I do not provide for-profit training materials in Palm Springs, CA twice/year. I’ve never been to Palm Springs although I hear from my dear friends it is quite a lovely place to visit.
I did send TRUE, FACTUAL information to the California license board when she was under investigation for unethical behavior and I was asked to be a witness in the case by providing my own experiences of her harassment and nuisance false ethical complaints (see above for documentation).
Sigh, so here I go again, back on the roller coaster of Prause legal lies. The case hasn’t been dropped because the courts are basically postponing everything, but she cannot prove her false claims, so it will be I trust.
Update as of December 3, 2020
The hearing was postponed until January 15, 2021. In preparation, I sent this letter:
Staci Sprout
1818 Westlake Avenue North
Suite 118
Seattle, WA 98109
November 27, 2020
Dear Superior Court of CA – LA County Small Claims Court Official,
I am writing to express concern as to why this case has not been dropped. I believe your court is being used for malicious use of process for the purpose of witness intimidation and harassment of me.
I have consulted with four lawyers since this small claim case was initially filed on December 23, 2019: one from California, a national defamation expert, a malicious prosecution expert from my home state, Washington, and a Personal Injury expert, also from Washington. All four agreed on two points, and encouraged me to emphasize them to the court:
1) This case is improperly filed and holds no jurisdiction over me because I don’t live, work, nor am engaged with a car accident claim in California, and I have not been served in California. I live and work in Seattle, Washington.
Please see attachments 1 and 2 as evidence of this, records from the Washington and California Secretaries of State business name searches, respectively. A general search of California state public records yields no match for my name.
For this Small Claims suit, I was served in person at my Seattle office at 1818 Westlake Avenue North, Suite 118, Seattle, WA 98109, and all court correspondence has been sent to that address. If the Plaintiff believes I have legally wronged her (I have not), it is her choice to sue in federal court, not an out-of-state Small Claims venue.
I expected once I emphasized this in previous writing to the court, the case would be dropped, but it has not been. I was subsequently advised that could be because I did not submit written evidence, so I am doing so now.
2) The second point emphasized in my legal consultations was to be sure the court was aware that I have filed an affidavit and declaration in two federal defamation lawsuits against the plaintiff, the first filed prior to this small claim case in California, and will testify if called upon in those ongoing cases. This case has the appearance of retaliation. Please see these statements in attachments 3 for Hilton vs. Prause (Texas) and 4 for Rhodes vs. Prause (Pennsylvania).
I also submitted a declaration for a third completed case in California Family Court where the plaintiff filed a Temporary Restraining Order against an innocent party, on March 28, 2020 in Prause vs. Wilson, attachment 5. Plaintiff Prause was denied that TRO for lack of evidence, and her lawyer attempted to resign from the case, stating, “[Prause] insists upon presenting a claim or defense in litigation…that is not warranted under existing law and cannot be supported by good faith argument for an extension, modification, or reversal of existing law” and more. As documented in the subsequent press release by Gary Wilson (and verifiable in California law records), Prause was ordered to pay the his legal fees in an associated anti-slapp suit he successfully counter-filed. See attachments 6 and 7 for evidence of this outcome.
This suit is part of a three-year pattern of malicious use of process, harassment, and witness intimidation by Plaintiff Prause against me. The plaintiff is prolific in using the courts and other professional venues to intimidate witnesses who try to protest her online and other bullying. This plaintiff is involved in or associated with multiple other active legal cases, including defamation, and her filing for bankruptcy. See attachment 8 for a recent list from the Public Access to Court Electronic Records.
Finally, she has engaged in documented attacks on multiple other respected professionals, many of whom are named in attachment 9, titled “Numerous Victims of Nicole Prause’s Malicious Reporting and Malicious Use of Process,” as evidence to this point.
This plaintiff has repeatedly initiated unprovoked professional and personal harassment and defamation against me starting in 2017. I can provide the court additional extensive written evidence to prove this, however I realize this is not a federal defamation case. In fact, I have held off on further legal action to defend myself pending the resolution of this claim.
Again, I respectfully request this case is dropped for improper jurisdiction and the absence of truthful allegations. I will not engage in mediation as this is an entirely improper and false claim. Understandably under the circumstances, I do not feel safe engaging this individual in any way.
Sincerely yours,
Staci Sprout
List of Attachments:
Attachment 1: Washington Secretary of State Business Information, Recontext Media
Attachment 2: California Secretary of State Business Searches, no results for Recontext Media
Attachment 3: My affidavit in Hilton vs. Prause (Texas)
Attachment 4: My declaration in Rhodes vs. Prause/Liberos (Pennsylvania)
Attachment 5: My declaration in Prause vs. Wilson (California)
Attachment 6: Superior Court of CA, LA County – Family Division, Dismissal of Prause’s request for a Civil Harassment Temporary Restraining Order and related Press Release
Attachment 8: Screenshot from PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) of current federal cases involving or associated with Plaintiff Prause (see below)
Attachment 9: Record of “Numerous Victims of Nicole Prause’s Malicious Reporting and Malicious Use of Process” detailing other professionals and organizations she has attacked similarly to me
Screenshot from November 2020 Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) of recent legal filings landing on Nicole Prause. 3 adversary cases, and 2 relief from stay. Circled the filing from Alex Rhodes: 1,016 pages. Not a typo!
In summary, dealing with all these attacks and lies has been stress-filled, time-consuming, distressing and exhausting. It has taking away my time from work, relationships, and other positive activities. I thank you for your consideration of my testimony about this situation.
Can I get back to supporting people to learn about recovery from porn/sex addiction now?
Nicole Prause’s Malicious Reporting Pattern: Nicole Prause has shown a consistent and troubling pattern of filing groundless, malicious complaints, and publicly claiming she has filed complaints when she has not done so. Below is an incomplete list of such complaints and false claims. (Out of fear of reprisal we have omitted numerous additional individuals & organizations, and there must surely be more we don't know about.) The baseless complaints Prause actually lodged were generally dismissed as nuisance filings. However, a few led to time-consuming investigations that were ultimately dismissed or produced little in the way of substantive results. Note: Prause regularly claims “whistleblower status” to keep her activities under the radar. So, there are likely other, non-public complaints in addition to those listed here. FOLLOW THE RABBIT TRAIL HERE