Posted by Jenny on August 13, 2003 at 23:44:43:
Dear Ray,
On behalf of our family I would like to offer a public apology for the posts, emails and intrusions into the personal and public life of you, Ray Alcorn, by my sister in law, Karen Bastrom. My brother, Ken and I, are deeply appalled by the events over the past two years.
Karen doesn’t expect forgiveness for her actions, but I feel she does owe you an explanation for the circumstances that lead to her actions. Karen and my brother lost their entire investment portfolio due to a variety of poor business decisions. What she felt was advice garnered from emails and posts between you and my sister in law, but more to her miss-use of the advice given to her. Karen has MS and the stress of the loss, her marriage beginning to fail, became the fault of the advice given by you. She was eventually arrested for attempted theft and released last week pending trail. This is how our family found out what she?s been doing.
Our family holds a deep Christian faith and I thank God for watching over everyone, even Karen to bring forward her actions before it became worse. We have learned about Karen?s actions from placing posts on the creonline community beginning last year to the last one placed in June of 2003 (There were 3 or 4 posts in total, several phone calls and hundreds of emails).
Karen?s attorney was provided access to the emails between you and Karen. Hundreds of emails. I don?t condone the emails beginning with business questions that you lead down a personal path, extreme sexual content to finally requesting meeting her in Orlando for a few days in May. I know that the principals of one person do not represent the principals of another and while the principals you hold are questionnable, it is not my place to judge after what Karen has done. And that does not take away the fundamental wrong-doing that Karen has violated by engaging in her destructive behavior.
For her part our family apologizes to you and everyone for any embarrassment or problems. We share in that embarrassment, hurt, disappointment and grave mistakes made by both you and Karen. It has been painful being in the media spotlight, especially for something like this.
I assure you that Karen or any member of our family have no intentions on pursuing any lawsuits that were threatened. Even though her attorney has assured her that the contents and progression of those emails by you were pursuable and unethical.
Our family apologizes for the turmoil caused by Karen to you and those involved with you in life, both business and personal.
I am sorry and I offer a public apology for both our family and Karen.
Jenny Bastrom, Ken Bastrom and Family
P.S. I have emailed all the other women, including the one that threatened to “sue” Karen if she proceded and the other that wanted information on what “others” there were and refused to have any part of having anything further to do with you.
For information, when this is all over with, we are in process of moving Karen back to Wyoming to where the family will take care of her and Ken. No member of this family will be a threat to you any longer. I will be deleting the account that you and Karen used under my name.