COLUMBIA, S.C. --

A Columbia man may be the first in the nation to face charges under a tougher federal law aimed at punishing cyberstalkers.

James R. Murphy, 38, was arrested Friday in Columbia after being indicted for 26 incidents involving sending e-mail "with the intention to annoy, abuse, threaten and harass the recipient of the communication," the U.S. Attorney's office in Seattle said.

Joelle Ligon of Seattle says she was the target of Murphy's harassment and told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that Murphy's arrest was "a huge relief."

Ligon has said previously the problems with her former boyfriend began about five years ago, two years before she moved to Seattle.

She said she had endured relentless, anonymous e-mails that contained rank lies about her sexual history and character - some of them sent to her co-workers.

The U.S. Attorney's office says in one instance Murphy sent e-mail to Ligon's co-workers with a Web link to a sexually-explicit Internet site. It was disguised so it appeared to come from Ligon, prosecutors said.

Ligon spent years trying to get police to take action.

Past prosecution efforts on relatively minor misdemeanor state charges in state courts stalled because Murphy was in South Carolina.

The charges Murphy now faces are possible under the law's new, stiffer penalties. A conviction on each of the charges can bring two years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Murphy was released on a $50,000 bond Friday and will later be arraigned in Seattle.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Warma told the newspaper that Murphy's arrest may be the first for the tougher law. "There is no precedent for it, as far as I know," Warma said.

Murphy's prosecution is "intended to let people know that if they send anonymous, harassing e-mails, their future may hold a federal felony conviction," Warma said.

Ligon's plight motivated her to push for a law change in Washington, where Gov. Gary Locke signed a bill last month making cyberstalking a crime punishable by as much as a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

South Carolina's Senate is considering similar legislation.

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