State dismisses 16 felony charges

A Loxahatchee man was relieved that 16 felony charges against him were dismissed by the state attorney's office when he showed up to court to begin his trial, but his finances were left in ruins as a result.

Darryl Berenson, 46, was accused by sheriff's investigators of hacking into his ex-wife's computer in October 2007.

He was charged with 16 counts of disrupting or denying computer services to an authorized user, each a third-degree felony.

From the start, Berenson denied the charges and declared his innocence, claiming his ex-wife, who had just moved to Highlands County, had tried to discredit him during a bitter custody battle over their two children.

They reportedly had been married 15 years.

Berenson said Monday the episode has cost him dearly, having lost his security agency as a result, because he had to surrender his security license due to the felony charges.

Now, even if he wanted to restart his business, his former clients all moved on to contract with other security providers. Nor does he have the money to start it up again. He dropped from a six-figure income to low five figures.

Also, the case began shortly after he had remarried, so it has caused its share of stress for his new wife.

"I had to file bankruptcy," he said. "I lost it all; I lost my business; I lost my clients; we lost two houses; I lost my savings; I lost my kids money for college; I've lost everything."

His son, now 11 and daughter 9, were both doing well, through it all, he said.

His wife had anxiety issues and they never had a honeymoon, he said.

"She lost everything, too," he said.

He said Monday that he and his state-appointed attorney were ready for a jury trial on March 8, but instead the state told him he was free to go.

Chip Thulberry, spokesman for the state attorney's office, said Monday the state did not have enough evidence to prove its case.

"After further investigation of the case, our office determined there was not sufficient evidence to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," said Thulberry.

During the investigation, the ex-wife said she believed he accessed and destroyed confidential Yahoo e-mails between her attorney and herself and then changed her password.

She told the sheriff's investigator that her former husband was making changes in his custody case "in direct relation to her and her attorney's correspondence," the arrest report stated.

Berenson argued at the time of his arrest that he had a wireless modem and anyone with computer knowledge could have intercepted his computer signal, to make it look like he was doing it from his family's Bell South Internet account.

He suggested to the investigator that his ex-wife could have changed her own password and framed him with some help from one particular family member with computer knowledge.

But the investigator found the ex-wife's story more credible. In March of 2008 Berenson was booked into the Highlands County Jail, where he turned himself in to authorities.

The investigating detective reported that the ex believed Berenson was trying to get an edge on her in the fight over custody of their two children. Berenson said he didn't need an edge as he already had custody.

He shared joint custody with his ex-wife until the court ruled in his favor during an emergency hearing in 2007.

"She lost custody to the non-biological father," he said, adding that isn't something that happens often in Florida courts.

In a previous report Berenson said he never even had a face-to-face with the detective, having interviewed with him over the telephone; not even when he sat in the jail three and a half hours on the day of his arrest.

On a brighter note, he was hired part-time by the Palm Beach County School Board the day after he bonded out of jail, where he is now employed full-time.