On Dec. 29, Presley took the stand first against Robert Jesse Hill, followed by Joshua. The following day, a jury of six of Hill’s peers convicted him of both counts of stalking. Hill could spend up to two years in jail, although Presley and Joshua have urged the prosecutor to push for mental health help for Hill.
Hill is currently out on bail until his sentencing Jan. 13 in Seattle.
The ordeal erupted in April 2010, when Presley and Joshua headed to Seattle for the grand opening of Dreamgirls, adjacent to the city’s major league baseball stadium.
Before arriving, Joshua had begun receiving strange communication from someone who appeared to represent himself as a political candidate. The person became increasingly aggressive during the coming weeks leading to the club appearance. Things took a turn for the worse during the gig, and the turn of events led to the landmark decision for adult stars and over-zealous fans.
“In March of 2010, I began getting emails from an Honorable Robert Jesse Hill, who calls himself ‘The Traveler,’" Joshua said. "He started by saying that he wanted to make sure Teagan was going to be permitted to dance nude in Seattle, and his email appeared to be from a judge or city councilman. Robert then told us he was a freelance journalist and wanted to interview Teagan, and secure her services as an ‘escort’ around the city, and as a running mate or to at least endorse his upcoming campaign for Tacoma City Council.”
Joshua, who directs for he and Presley's company skinworXXX, continued, “Teagan became concerned because of the varying stories about Hill, and started researching him on Google. What she found was at the same time funny, and utterly scary.
“Hill is a nationally well known ‘oddball’ to say the least. Columns are written about him regularly, and he has a ‘fan’ base called The Hill Watch, that lampoons and parodies his every movement. Hill has been arrested several times for his behavior, including for stalking a city councilwoman, as well as drawing a gun, which turned out to be fake, at a court officer in Tacoma. He’s been arrested for handing out flyers on a holiday he wants instituted, National Women’s Masturbation Day. The flyers were graphic, and unfortunately were handed out to children as well. All of these concerns, alongside with the dozens of crazy photographs and videos on YouTube began planting extreme concern for our safety, primarily hers, in my mind.”
Joshua said the Seattle club reassured them they were safe upon their arrival. But during Presley's first show the opening night, Robert showed up with political literature in hand, and flowers wrapped in newspaper for her.
"The club caught him at the door, and the GM kept him outside while security tucked Teagan away safely in an office and showed me out the window what he looked like and that he was indeed there," Joshua explained. "After he second show of the evening, we ate a local late nightspot and headed back to our hotel. A couple hours later, she and I were watching a commercial for Bora Bora travel, a place near and dear to Teagan’s hear since she shot 'Island Fever 4' there. We decided to turn in, and I opened the door to put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ on the door. When I opened the door, someone outside our door said 'Bora Bora' and I quickly slammed the door and called security. The hotel couldn’t find anyone outside our room or anyone out of place at all, and they left. Shortly after I fell asleep, Teagan woke me up and said someone was knocking out the door. I called security again and the person had fled. I didn’t know if it was Robert or not.”
Joshua said the next day he got a text message from Robert saying, "Sorry I missed you at your hotel room last night.”
"So that was conclusive enough for me," Joshua said. "The second day was pretty uneventful, except I found out Robert had gone to another of the Hustler clubs there and had a run in with a dancer and been ejected. Shortly thereafter he waited outside for her and scared her so the police were called and he took off. When I woke up Sunday morning, I got a text that said, ‘It’s Robert. I’m in the lobby. Want to come buy me a beer?’
"I quickly called security and they wanted me to come down to find him. The police were called. Security couldn’t find him anywhere. The police asked me to text him back, which was the first time I ever responded to a text from him, and ask him where he was. He said that he was charging his phone in the bar. The GM from the club was in the area, and came to our hotel to make sure we were safe. He, myself and the head of security headed to the bar where Robert was nowhere to be found. As we turned to leave, Robert was two inches from my face and stuck his hand out to shake. I shook it as I was scared not to and the GM and I started walking away fast. He chased behind us snapping pictures of us, as the police roared in. Within minutes he was arrested after he fled, and charged with two counts of stalking. One against me and one against Teagan.”
Joshua and Teagan were subpoenaed to testify against Hill for a trial set last week. During the months leading up to trial, Robert continued to call Joshua and email him. Joshua said that at the end of May Robert texted Joshua’s phone with a message directed toward Teagan that read, 'Sorry to hear about Josh. Sorry for your loss.' The same day he emailed Joshua and said there would be payback for his arrest."
The Seattle prosecutor’s office headed for trial, with lead prosecutor Craig Simms and Melissa Chin at the helm. Hill was represented by a public defender. The defense made the argument that Hill only wanted Teagan’s political endorsement, and was not a fan. They also argued that Joshua and Teagan had indirectly invited Hill to their hotel by the use of Foursquare and Twitter.
“Teagan and I didn’t invite him anywhere," Joshua said. "We only check into a location on Foursquare if its a public forum such as a restaurant, and we only do that when we are leaving. We never check into a hotel publicly, as we obviously don’t want fans that don’t know about boundaries showing up. And more importantly, Robert used Teagan’s real name to get her room number by concocting a story about being a family friend, even though the hotel had guaranteed our safety and anonymity.”
“I really hate giving Robert any more publicity than he already gets, but I wanted other stars to know what can happen, and how dangerous this kind of thing can be.” Teagan added. “Fans are great, but there is a difference between a fan and someone who has scarier motives. Robert is an extreme no doubt, but this happens all the time. If Joshua hadn’t been on his A game protecting me, who knows what could’ve happened? Glad I don’t have to find out.”
To read more about Robert “The Traveler” Hill, read The Melon’s column, the Hill Watch here.
