From: glen mccready 
  To: 0xdeadbeef@substance.abuse.blackdown.org
Date: Wed, 03 Jun 1998 20:06:10 -0400

Forwarded-by: Faried Nawaz <fn-g@kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu>
Forwarded-by: "Phil Weiss" <kingrat@newsguy.com>

Man poses as retarded girl; waitress takes him home, police say
Associated Press, 06/03/98 12:48

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - A waitress who felt sorry for the diner she thought was a
retarded 13-year-old girl now wants a judge to punish him.

That's right, him. He's a 31-year-old man who police say somehow passed
himself off as a retarded girl to get close to the waitress and spend a
night at her house.

The man is accused of adding to the ruse by calling the restaurant where the
woman worked and identifying himself in a high-pitched voice as the girl's
mother, according to police and the waitress, 20-year-old Michelle
McFarland.

Daniel Mundaniohl II, who called himself ``Judy Cooper,'' was charged with
misdemeanor stalking and theft and felony trespassing, police said. He faced
up to 13 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

``He dressed in unisex clothing and was able to convince a number of people
that he was 13 and a mentally retarded girl,'' prosecutor Marshall Piccinini
said.

A romantic interest in McFarland is ``a plausible reason for what he did,''
but his motives remain murky, Piccinini said Tuesday.

Mundaniohl had no comment and slammed the door in a reporter's face Monday
at his home in Millcreek Township.

McFarland said Mundaniohl was a regular customer at the Perkins Family
Restaurant where she worked. She said he dressed in jeans, a turtleneck and
a sweatshirt and was ``chunky.''

``It had us all fooled,'' she said.

Someone posing as the mother of the fictional ``Judy Cooper'' called May 15
to ask McFarland if the girl could spend the night with her, Erie County
Detective Joseph Spusta said.

McFarland refused the request, but the next day, the ``girl'' followed
McFarland out of the restaurant at the end of her shift.

``I figured, she's only 13. I'll take her home and call the police and see
what I can do,'' McFarland said. ``I like to help people out if I get the
chance.''

Getting no quick answer from authorities on what she should do, she let the
girl spend the night on her couch.

But McFarland eventually found a man's driver's license, a car registration
and mail in ``Judy's'' book bag. At first she thought the girl was carrying
stolen items, but eventually she and the authorities concluded that ``Judy''
and Mundaniohl were one and the same. The stalking charge stems from calls
that the man allegedly made to McFarland after the overnight visit.

``I want to see him locked up and put away for good,'' McFarland said.

District Justice John Vendetti has ordered Mundaniohl not to contact
McFarland and scheduled a preliminary hearing for July 2.