The FBI said a Michigan man and former Cornell University Ph.D. student who was banned from an Ithaca, New York, church is now charged with cyberstalking after what investigators describe as years of harassing and threatening emails aimed at the church’s pastor and two female congregants.
A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Detroit said in a federal complaint unsealed June 26, 2026, the case began when a pastor at a church in Ithaca, New York, made a report to the FBI in June of 2025. The pastor said Phillip Benjamin Bonneville, 30, of Macomb had been sending “harassing and threatening emails” to him and two female congregants.
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According to the pastor, Bonneville used to be a student at Cornell before he was asked to leave in the summer of 2023. While at Cornell, Bonneville allegedly attended the church, but the church elders banned him from attending due to his “repeated harassment.”
The feds said the pastor and the women provided a timeline and copies of emails.
‘The devil was tempting him to marry her,’ -- then worse
One of the women, also a Cornell student, allegedly told investigators she met Bonneville in the summer of 2021 at church. The FBI said she told them they became friends, but by May 2022 his behavior changed. After Bonneville returned home to Michigan, he allegedly began sending “strange emails” including one where he tried to convince her to date him.
Since May 2022, the woman estimated Bonneville sent her “over 130 emails,” despite her repeatedly telling him to stop.
Beginning May 7, 2022, Bonneville allegedly emailed the same woman saying that “the devil was tempting him to marry her.” Later that month, the FBI said he apologized, saying that his treatment “put him in a weird mental state.”
But the feds said the woman grew increasingly worried as the emails continued. By June 2022, Bonneville was allegedly back in Ithaca and they remained friends, but he kept sending long messages she considered “very strange.” The woman allegedly told investigators it was “inappropriately intense” for their friendship.
On July 22, 2022, according to the complaint, Bonneville texted the woman that it was “God’s will that they be together.” She told the feds that she told him she did not want anything romantic.
The FBI said Bonneville’s behavior “culminated in late July 2022” when he called the woman and confessed that when he originally told her “the devil was tempting him to marry her,” it was “actually that the devil was tempting him to murder her.”
On July 29, 2022, Bonneville allegedly emailed the same woman that “the devil told him” she “is a temptation. Kill her.” Bonneville allegedly said a few days later he “managed to put aside that voice and never heard it again.”
Reports, welfare checks and no-contact orders
In August and September 2022, the same woman told the feds that she reported Bonneville’s behavior to Cornell’s Title IX Office and its Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education Office. In fall 2022, she said she told another woman she was being harassed.
On Nov. 18, 2022, the woman told Bonneville his messages were “destructive and caused her a lot of distress” and that she did not want more emails. The other woman, with the reporting woman’s permission, told Bonneville his behavior was unacceptable and that the woman did not want further communication, court records said.
In December 2022, the reporting woman told the feds she met with Bonneville and recommended mental health treatment. Bonneville then reportedly went home to Macomb, Michigan, for Christmas.
On Jan. 16, 2023, Bonneville, according to the feds, requested a welfare check on the woman from the Ithaca Police Department, saying he believed she was being “sex trafficked across state lines” by people using fake identities.
The woman was apparently in Arizona at the time and told police she believed Bonneville was experiencing a mental health crisis. She was then told to get a restraining order.
Days later, Cornell’s dean of students called 911 regarding Bonneville, reporting that Bonneville said some female Cornell students were part of a sex ring and “the devil wanted him to kill them,” the FBI said.
Police said they then went to check on Bonneville. During the second attempt, the feds said Bonneville denied making the comment and ran into his apartment building. With his head sticking out of the door, Bonneville allegedly said he did not wish to harm anyone or himself but was experiencing “a mental health breakdown.” When asked about the sex ring, he allegedly said he did not know the girls involved.
On Jan. 26, 2023, Bonneville is accused of calling Cornell University Police for another welfare check on the same woman. Cornell Police allegedly told the woman Bonneville had been told “not to contact” again.
But later that day, the FBI said Bonneville confronted her at a campus ministry event, followed her around and was told to leave by event leaders. He also allegedly waited for the event to end and confronted her again. Cornell police told Bonneville the woman did not want to speak with him and that a No Contact Order would be submitted through Cornell’s Title IX Office.
Eventually, according to the complaint, the woman got a no-contact order, and campus ministry leaders told Bonneville he could not attend related events. In February 2023, the woman and church elders allegedly told Bonneville to stop attending the church all together “unless he was willing to seek support for his mental health.”
Arrest and an order of protection
Bonneville allegedly violated the no-contact order on April 18, 2023, by emailing the same woman again and claiming the order was on hold. The woman said she confirmed that wasn’t true.
Then, the FBI said, on April 24, 2023, Bonneville was arrested by Cornell University Police on a harassment charge. Bonneville was then ordered by a judge not to contact the woman.
On Sept. 13, 2023, the criminal charge was allegedly resolved with an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal for six months. The order of protection was extended until March 13, 2024, the feds said.
‘Approximately 500 emails’ to church pastor
Then, in March 2024, the FBI said Bonneville began sending emails to the church’s pastor and church elders accusing the pastor of abuse and “secret homosexuality.” The pastor told the feds he asked Bonneville to stop, but said Bonneville “has constantly and consistently emailed” the pastor “approximately 500 emails,” including as recently as June 17, 2026, the FBI said.
Once the woman’s order of protection expired, (also in March 2024), Bonneville is accused of “immediately” resuming communication and “requesting that they begin dating.” She responded that she wished to have no contact, the feds said.
In May 2024, Bonneville allegedly told church elders he would attend a Sunday worship service to protest his case against the pastor and the church. The pastor told him he was not allowed to attend, the feds said.
Taking the dispute to St. Louis, Missouri
Then in July 2024, Bonneville, according to the FBI, arrived at a Presbyterian church in St. Louis before Sunday service and asked to meet leaders to argue his case against the pastor. The FBI said the pastor was previously a member of the Missouri Presbytery and Bonneville had also attended Washington University in St. Louis.
Between August and September 2024, the feds said Bonneville emailed complaints about the pastor’s “alleged misbehavior” to more people, including church members and local Ithaca church leaders of other denominations, often cc’ing the pastor on the emails, the complaint said. The pastor then allegedly requested an investigation by the New York State Presbytery to “clear his name.”
In September 2024, Bonneville was served with a “persona non grata (PNG)” notice barring him from property that included the church and was also served a one-year PNG notice from Cornell University, the feds said.
The pastor told investigators he kept receiving emails through winter 2025. According to the FBI, in April 2025, the New York State Presbytery exonerated the pastor. Bonneville was allegedly notified of the results.
‘God is prepared to act -- dramatically’
In May 2025, Bonneville allegedly emailed “all the churches of the NYSB,” including the pastor and the church. In those emails, Bonneville is accused of writing (in part): “God is prepared to act – dramatically -- in this situation. I strongly advise someone to come forward before He does… He is slow to anger, but he does not leave the guilty unpunished…”
Then in late May and early June 2025, Bonneville is accused of emailing leaders of the Presbyterian Church of America in Atlanta, repeating similar allegations and issuing warnings.
Some of the allegations included:
“I believe this pastor’s actions in this situation have been characteristic of a broader pattern of both pro-homosexual and authoritarian behavior....”
“God is immensely angry with this teaching elder and church, and he is planning something very dramatic at this year’s General Assembly.”
References to Ted Kaczynski and a major church gathering
On June 24, 2025, Bonneville allegedly emailed the pastor and a church elder and included “several references to Ted Kaczynski.” The next morning, the pastor received a forwarded email saying Bonneville would attend the PCA General Assembly in Chattanooga on June 27, 2025 -- which, according to the feds, is a gathering of 5,000 church leaders, including the pastor.
According to a Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office report, Bonneville was seen at the assembly on June 27. Deputies searched him for weapons with “negative findings,” and he left when asked, the feds said.
‘To stalk or not to stalk, that is the question’
The FBI said in June 2025, Bonneville was linked to Macomb, Michigan through state documentation. The feds also said a screenshot captured in September of 2025 linked to Bonneville, showed in part: “To stalk or not to stalk, that is the question. There is not room in this world for both Bonneville and [reporting woman’s first name]…”
In late September 2025, Bonneville allegedly emailed the pastor again discussing three things that would happen starting in December 2025. One prediction for the pastor was: “Your worst nightmare will happen. (Yes, a nightmare, but not a violent one.)” Bonneville also allegedly wrote (in part): “…you will lose all that you hold dear, including your wife, your children’s respect…”
On Oct. 6, 2025, the pastor said he received a message from Bonneville from a family member’s email that said, in part: “You have a week from midnight…”
Kidnapping references and a welfare check
On Nov. 20, 2025, numerous churches allegedly received an email titled “An Apology to the New York State PCA.” The email said, in part: “God shall destroy all the churches of the NYS Presbytery. He shall not let up until the entirety of the churches lie in utter ruins…”
On Dec. 9, 2025, the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office said it contacted Bonneville for a welfare check after an email he sent to the pastor allegedly described a plot to kidnap another woman (that was to occur one year earlier). Bonneville allegedly wrote about wanting to “kidnap her,” and give her “‘exposure therapy’ to [him]…”
During that encounter, Bonneville was allegedly told not to contact the pastor, but two days later, Bonneville is accused of emailing him and the sheriff’s office asking for “no further police visits on behalf of [the pastor], unless he presses charges against [him] or there is a true emergency.”
Messages to a second woman
The FBI said Bonneville then began emailing a second woman on Jan. 23, 2023, with the subject “Getting Together,” asking her to lunch and saying he “might be interested in her.” It also allegedly included a lengthy message about how he had come to be “potentially open to crossdressing in a relationship.” He apologized for having previously reported her to police as a possible sex trafficking victim, the feds said.
Bonneville continued emailing her in 2023 and 2024, and In May 2024, the complaint said, he asked her to pass messages to the original reporting woman. By October 2024, he was trying to get the woman’s father’s email address, then allegedly emailed numerous church leaders in Connecticut where her father might be a congregant, the FBI said.
On Aug. 27, 2025, Bonneville is accused of emailing the woman asking her to marry him and saying he loved her.
‘Hearing voices saying to kill a woman named…'
On Oct. 8, 2025, the woman told the FBI she received an email from someone she believed was Bonneville based on the content. It allegedly said in part: “He said he was there because he was hearing voices saying to kill a woman named ‘[her name]’ … threatening that he’d go to hell otherwise.”
The next few days, she said she received more emails from the same address that said, among other things: “Dear beloved, I’ll never stop loving you…” and “God might be calling on him to blow up an abortion clinic.”
FBI search warrant and alleged admissions
On Feb. 10, 2026, the FBI seached Bonneville’s home in Macomb and interviewed him in the presence of his parents. The feds said Bonneville admitted to using several email addresses to contact the victims and said he threatened the pastor “spiritually,” not physically, and that he “developed loose plans to kidnap” the second woman. He also allegedly said he believed God would be violent toward the pastor.
In May 2026, a man in Connecticut reported receiving emails from Bonneville about plans to kidnap the second woman and said Bonneville showed up at his family home in Shelton. The FBI said they learned Bonneville traveled to Connecticut, became unemployed, and then planned to go to Texas.
On May 19, 2026, Bonneville allegedly emailed an FBI agent writing, in part: “Right now I’m in Texas, so very far away from… Ithaca… I’m trying to meet with an assistant professor at Texas A&M.”
After that, Bonneville is accused of emailing more than 100 people, including the victims, saying he was under federal investigation and blaming the pastor. In that message, Bonneville allegedly wrote, in part: “I am writing both to let you know about this prosecution under consideration, as well as to let you know that [the pastor] has once again complained about me to the police and/or court.”
On May 30, 2026, the FBI said images from a license plate reader showed Bonneville near Whitney Point, New York -- about 39 miles east of Ithaca. The car, according to the complaint, appeared “wrapped in black vinyl or painted black,” after previously being seen as a silver car.
More emails and another arrest
On June 17, 2026, the pastor allegedly received an email from the second woman about a message that said: “I look forward to seeing many of you at PCA General Assembly next week.”
The FBI said a search showed the General Conference scheduled June 22-26, 2026, in Louisville, Kentucky. On June 24, 2026, Bonneville’s car was photographed in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, and security encountered Bonneville at the assembly in Louisville. He left the premises, the FBI said.
Records show a federal arrest warrant for Bonneville was filed a day later -- on June 25, 2026. Records also show Bonneville was temporarily detained pending trial.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 10, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. at federal court in Detroit.