http://www.faribault.com/news.php?viewStory=97397
A Faribault teenager who left home to join a self-proclaimed vampire she met online has no intention of returning to her family, she said Tuesday.
Paige Brewer, 16, who had been staying with her grandmother because of a tumultuous relationship with her mother, wouldn't say where she and 45-year-old Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey were staying, though it's believed they're in the Twin Cities area.
She's listed as an endangered runaway through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
"That's bull," Brewer said Tuesday. "I'm not endangered and I'm not a runaway."
She refuses to speak to her mother, who she claims was emotionally and occasionally abusive.
Her mother, Jillian Moen, disputes the charges.
"I'm saying right now, that's not true. You can talk to anybody who knows us," said Moen, who lives in Mound.
"I had her when I was 16, and I'm a strict parent, because I didn't want her to end up 16 and pregnant," she said.
Instead, Brewer is seeking legal emancipation from her mother.
"I can't make anybody believe what I say," she said. "I'm a 16-year-old. Obviously, people will believe my mom over me."
But 16 is the age of legal consent in Minnesota, so legally, Brewer hasn't done anything wrong.
Neither, by the letter of the law, has Sharkey, who court records show has a lengthy record.
By his own admission, "I have not dated anyone older than 19 in the last four years," he said Tuesday, adding that he and Brewer would like to be married Friday, Aug. 13.
"If they were involved in some kind of sexual relationship, there may be charges filed," said Faribault Police Chief Dan Collins. That's because Sharkey is more than four years older than Brewer.
Still, the case is out of the jurisdiction of the FPD, Collins said — and no one can prove a sexual relationship exists.
It's frustrating, he admitted.
"The law's the law; we have to follow it no matter how we feel about (the situation)," Collins said.
Sharkey says he is saving Brewer from an abusive situation.
"She contacted me on Friday and said, 'you have two choices; either come out here and help me or I walk out to New Jersey.' Paige left (home) on her own," he said. "If she wanted to leave (now), she could leave."
Sharkey said he's been "dealing with child services in Rice County, trying to get an amicable solution. Once this is all resolved, she's going to have to have counseling," he said.
"Paige needs therapy, her mother needs therapy, and Paige needs to be back in school," he said.
Moen believes Sharkey has brainwashed her daughter.
"He's clearly warping her mind," she said. "It's kidnapping, as far as I'm concerned. I just want to get her someplace safe; she doesn't have to tell me where she is. We can deal with things from there. We just want her home."
Not without Sharkey, Brewer said.
"If he'd like me to finish out my education, then he'll come back to Faribault with me," she said — but she's not going anywhere until she's emancipated.
They've consulted an attorney about it, Brewer said Tuesday, but the timeframe is unclear.
Sharkey, a New Jersey native, professes to be a professional wrestler.
He ran for governor of Minnesota in 2006; he has said he'll run again in November.
In 2006, Sharkey was arrested in Princeton on an outstanding bench warrant relating to two felony counts in Indiana, one of escape and one of stalking a former girlfriend whom he had previously been jailed for harassing. According to the Marion County Sheriff's Office, there are police reports dating since 2001 regarding his harassment of the woman.
He was extradited to Indiana and though he claimed to the media the felony stalking charges had been dropped, the Marion County Sheriff's Office confirmed they had not been dropped. Sharkey pleaded guilty to two counts of invasion of privacy and was ordered to attend mental health treatment. In addition, Sharkey pleaded guilty to escape, a felony, the day before his scheduled jury trial.
He was jailed again on Sept. 27, 2008, in Marion County after being charged with felony harassment and two misdemeanors. In June 2009 he admitted to two counts of harassment.
On July 7, 2009, Sharkey was extradited to Marion County and jailed on two counts of felony intimidation, in which he is alleged to have threatened a Marion County Judge by typing allegedly threatening e-mails or other documents. After a continuation of his jury trial, Sharkey pleaded guilty on Dec. 16, 2009.
He was sentenced to two years in prison, but was released Dec. 21 after receiving credit for time served.
Brewer said she's aware of Sharkey's past, but isn't worried for her safety.
"He's taken care of me pretty well," she said. "He wants me to be safe and happy."
She does worry, she added, about potential legal charges against Sharkey.
"I say it's bull," Brewer said. "I believe we'll get married some day."
