WASHINGTON — The 51-year-old Montgomery County man who police say stalked and harassed the Miss Maryland pageant winner was ordered Monday to stay away from the 19-year-old woman for the next six months.
Valencio Fernandes Pires, of Germantown, Maryland, was arrested by Maryland State Police on Aug. 19 and charged with harassment, stalking and email harassment.
In court on Monday, Pires consented to a peace order prohibiting him from contacting the woman, and a judge ruled he should continue to be held without bond, the county state’s attorney’s office told WTOP.
Hannah Brewer, who currently holds the title of Miss Maryland, filed a report Aug. 19 with state police, saying she had received “frightening and unwanted contact” from Pires.
In a statement, state police said they believe Pires initially contacted Brewer in person at a Miss Maryland event last week in Hagerstown. Police said Pires can be seen in two photographs at that event “intently and intensely staring” at Brewer, according to the release.
Police said they also believe Pires used social media and emails to contact Brewer even after she requested that he stop.
A state police spokeswoman said there was no public police report and that Brewer did not want to be contacted by the media.
The national Miss America competition will be held in Atlantic City Sept. 11 and broadcast by ABC.
