Man ‘called in bomb threat to health clinic when pregnant ex went to get an abortion’

A man is accused of making a fake bomb threat to a Florida abortion clinic where his ex was trying to get an abortion after he allegedly sexually assaulted her. 

Rodney Allen was accused of making several calls into the clinic this summer, and in one of the calls makes the bogus bomb threat, according to a sworn affidavit in support of a criminal complaint signed against him.

‘Someone is coming to the clinic to blow it up and hes (sic) just letting you know ahead of time,’ Allen is alleged to have said in the affidavit signed by an FBI agent. 

No bombs were detected at the clinic, which is only referred to in the complaint as R.H.C..

Allen, who denied threatening to detonate an explosive at the clinic, was hit with a criminal charge for making a threat by phone. 

The woman had previously made almost a dozen attempts to make an appointment to end her pregnancy, in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia,  reports VICE. 

But each time, Allen reportedly contacted the clinics beforehand and cancelled the appointments, after accessing the woman’s phone records to spy on the bookings. 

‘Someone is coming to the clinic to blow it up and hes (sic) just letting you know ahead of time,’ Allen is alleged to have said in a 15-page affidavit signed (pictured above) by FBI agent Robert W. Blythe, in support of a criminal complaint

Allen also is facing a charge of ‘interference with access to reproductive health care services,’ Vice reported.

Under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances  Act, the latter charge refers to a form of abuse known as reproductive coercion, which covers heavily monitoring a woman’s menstrual cycle, destroying or tampering with her birth control, and pressuring them to get pregnant. 

Authorities arrested Allen on September 25. It was not immediately known whether he was detained, or if he remains so. 

Allen, who is from South Carolina, was reportedly in a relationship with the woman, who claimed she became pregnant after the sexual assault earlier this year.

She also accused Allen of physically abusing her and threatening to kill her relatives.

According to the affidavit, Allen was identified through subpoenaed phone records that indicated the number used to reach out to the clinic. 

‘I never made a bomb threat,’ Allen was alleged to have said when he was confronted by investigators about the call to the clinic. 

After a further examination of his phone records, the investigators learned that between August 18 and 30, Allen’s phone had been used to make 18 calls to abortion clinics, including 16 within Jacksonville’s 904 area code. 

The fake bomb threat had been made on August 29. 

An affidavit in support of a criminal complaint says Rodney Allen was arrested for making a fake bomb threat to a Jacksonville, Florida, abortion clinic where his ex-, whom he sexually assaulted, was seeking to abort their unborn child which was a result of the attack (file image)

An affidavit in support of a criminal complaint says Rodney Allen was arrested for making a fake bomb threat to a Jacksonville, Florida, abortion clinic where his ex-, whom he sexually assaulted, was seeking to abort their unborn child which was a result of the attack (file image)

He was alleged to also have made 24 calls, using the *67 feature that blocks the number from which a person is calling. 

During the same time period, he is also alleged to have sent 69 text messages and called his ex- 123 times. 

She is referred to in the affidavit only by the initials A.S. 

The phone records also show calls were made to a hotel and motel, where his ex- said she was planning on staying while she had the abortion, until she discovered someone had cancelled her reservations.

She complained to authorities that she had made several attempts to get an abortion previously, not just in Florida, but as well as in North Carolina and Georgia, only to discover that someone she believed was Allen had cancelled them. 

The FBI investigators suspected he had access to the woman’s cell phone and text messaging records to track what clinics she had called. He also is believed to have had a patient code that allowed him to alter and cancel reservations on behalf of his ex. 

It was when investigators reached out to the ex, that their suspicions of Allen’s access to the phone records was confirmed. 

A special agent who had called the woman on September 11 received multiple missed calls afterwards from a blocked number, the affidavit says. 

The agent, who was able to answer one of the calls, asked if it was Allen, and he confirmed it was him.

The agent asked how Allen had gotten his number, and alleged that Allen said it was relating to an unknown Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, or ATF, investigation. 

Upon meeting with him later on September 16, the agents claimed the man asked whether ‘justification of emotion’ would keep him from being arrested.’

‘We all make mistakes and some have greater consequences than others,’ said a deputy US marshal aiding in the investigation told him, according to the affidavit. 

‘I guess this would definitely qualify,’ the agents recalled Allen responding, although he still denied making a bomb threat.  

 An FBI spokeswoman could not immediately provide more details about Allen, including his age, when DailyMail.com reached out.

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