Producer of "Scream" Sues ex-Boyfriend for Stalking Her

Marianne Maddalena is detailing the "pain and suffering" she suffered when her ex-boyfriend hacked into her office computer and installed a GPS tracking system on her car.

According to a lawsuit filed Friday in California federal court, the nightmare of being spied upon by someone close is the ultimate terror.

As the complaint puts it, "When our privacy is taken, when our character is sullied by someone acting to be ourselves and when our lives are stolen from us through an internet based hijacking, the core of our very existence is stabbed at its epicenter, and the recovery can take much longer than any serious physical injury."

The target of the complaint is Derrick John Toole, who according to court records was convicted of felonies last year. He was a contractor in the construction business and, according to Maddalena's lawsuit, had "many high-profile clients."

Maddalena says she met Toole in late 2007, and they dated on and off for years. During this time, she says, she "perceived herself to be in a loving, safe and enjoyable relationship" that included romantic gestures, cards, trips and other affectionate moments.

But Maddalena says that in 2009, Toole began using spyware to intercept her e-mails, texts and other electronic communications. That year, she was working on Last House on the Left, a horror film that she co-produced with Craven.

Toole is alleged to have broken into her production offices on Ventura Boulevard, logged onto her work computers and received intercepted communications and reports of all of her keystrokes, passwords typed, messages and more. This activity is said to have given him access to things like her financial records and phone bills. With that information, Toole is described as figuring out whom she interacted with, and by conducting public records searches and allegedly installing a tracking device on her car, he basically knew her every move.

"In or around 2010, Ms. Maddalena thought she was losing her mind as family, friends and co-workers seemed to back off and drop out of her life," says the lawsuit.

Maddalena began seeing a therapist. Says the complaint: "The damages to Plaintiff include not only great emotional distress and paranoid feelings born out of mistrust, but also the sense that Plaintiff is being watched -- always being watched."

What she didn't know, adds the lawsuit, was that her ex-boyfriend was using the information to impersonate her, sending e-mails with damaging messages to people she knew.

That appears to be how Toole was caught.

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