CT man convicted of threatening to kill children, commit school shootings

A Branford man has been convicted of several threatening charges after authorities said he harassed three people over the course of a year and made numerous vulgar threats, including those involving murder, rape and child abduction.

Samuel Foley, 26, was found guilty by a jury in New Haven Superior Court on Wednesday, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice.

The charges he was convicted of include eight counts each of first-degree threatening with a firearm and second-degree harassment by telephone and five counts each of second-degree threatening and second-degree harassment by written communication, officials said.

According to authorities, between May 2021 and May 2022, Foley made numerous phone calls and sent hundreds of text messages to victims that included threats of “murder, rape, sexual assault with guns and knives, child abduction, violent and sexually explicit pornographic images.”

Authorities said Foley also made threats about murdering the victims’ children and committing shootings at their schools.

“Foley called each victim hundreds of times and masked his phone number using Voiceover Internet Protocol spoofing applications,” officials wrote.

According to officials, Foley was arrested by the FBI at the border of Mexico and California. He was extradited to Connecticut in August 2022 to face charges in the harassment complaints, court records show.

The investigation was conducted by the Connecticut State Police as well as the Madison and Branford Police Departments.

Foley is being held on bonds totaling $405,000 while he awaits sentencing, which is scheduled for Aug. 7, records show.