LOS ANGELES—Last April, Adam & Eve contract star Teagan Presley and Joshua, her fiancé and a director for the Adam & Eve-distributed studio skinworXXX, headed to Seattle, where Teagan was to perform at the grand opening of Dreamgirls, adjacent to the city’s major league baseball stadium. Before arriving in Seattle, however, Joshua had started receiving communications from someone who represented himself as a political candidate, the same person who became progressively aggressive during the weeks leading up to the club appearance. Things took a decided turn for the worse in Seattle during the gig, and the turn of events led to a court decision with implications for both adult stars and overzealous fans.
“In March of 2010, I began getting emails from an Honorable Robert Jesse Hill, who calls himself ‘The Traveler,’” said Joshua. “He started by saying that he wanted to make sure Teagan was going to be permitted to dance nude in Seattle, and his email appeared to be from a judge or city councilman. Hill then told us he was a freelance journalist and wanted to interview Teagan and secure her services as an ‘escort’ around the city, and as a running mate or to at least to endorse his upcoming campaign for Tacoma City Council. Teagan became concerned because of the varying stories from Hill, and started researching him on Google. What she found was at the same time funny and utterly scary.”
Hill is a “nationally well known ‘oddball,’ to say the least,” continued the director. “Columns are written about him regularly, and he has a ‘fan’ base called The Hill Watch, that lampoons and parodies his every movement. He has been arrested several times for his behavior, including for stalking a city council woman, as well as for drawing a gun, which turned out to be fake, on a court officer in Tacoma. He’s also been arrested for handing out fliers on a holiday he wants instituted, National Women’s Masturbation Day. The flyers were graphic and unfortunately were handed out to children as well. All of these concerns, along with the dozens of crazy photographs and videos on YouTube, began planting extreme concern for our safety, but primarily Teagan’s, in my mind.
“The club reassured us we were safe upon our arrival, but during her first show opening night, Hill showed up with political literature in hand, and flowers for Teagan wrapped in newspaper,” said Joshua. “The club caught him at the door, and the GM kept him outside while security tucked Teagan away safely in an office and showed me out the window what Hill looked like and that he was indeed there. After the second show of the evening, we ate at a local late-night spot and headed back to our hotel. A couple hours later, Teagan and I were watching a commercial for Bora Bora travel, a place near and dear to Teagan’s heart since she shot Island Fever 4 there. We decided to turn in, and I opened the door to put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ on the door. When I opened the door, someone outside the door said ‘Bora Bora,’ and I quickly slammed the door and called security. The hotel couldn’t find anyone outside our room or out of place at all, and they left. Shortly after I fell asleep, Teagan woke me and said someone was knocking on the door. I called security again but the person had fled. I didn’t know if it was Hill or not.
“The next day,” he continued, “I got a text from Hill saying, ‘Sorry I missed you at your hotel room last night.’ So that was conclusive enough for me. The second day was pretty uneventful, except I found out Hill had gone to another of the Hustler clubs there and had a run-in with a dancer and been ejected. Shortly thereafter he waited outside for her and scared her, so the police were called and he took off. When I woke up Sunday morning, I got a text that said, ‘It’s Robert. I’m in the lobby. Want to come buy me a beer?’ I quickly called security and they asked me to come down to find him. The police were called. Security couldn’t find him anywhere. The police then asked me to text him back, which was the first time I ever responded to a text from him, and ask him where he was. He said that he was charging his phone in the bar. The GM from the club was in the area, and came to our hotel to make sure we were safe. He, myself and the head of security headed to the bar, where Hill was nowhere to be found. As we turned to leave, however, Hill was two inches from my face and stuck his hand out to shake. I shook it as I was scared not to, and the GM and I started walking away fast. He chased behind us, snapping pictures of us, as the police roared in. Within minutes he was arrested after trying to flee, and charged with two counts of stalking, one against me and one against Teagan.”
Joshua and Teagan were subpoenaed to testify against Hill during a trial set last week. During the months leading up to trial, Hill continued to call and email Joshua for months. Toward the end of May, Hill texted Joshua’s phone with a message directed toward Teagan that read, “Sorry to hear about Josh. Sorry for your loss.” The same day Hill emailed Joshua and said there would be payback for his arrest.
The Seattle prosecutor’s office headed for trial, with lead prosecutor Craig Simms and Melissa Chin at the helm. Hill was represented by a public defender. The defense made the argument that Hill only wanted Teagan’s political endorsement, and that he was not a fan. They also argued that Joshua and Teagan had indirectly invited Hill to their hotel by the use of Foursquare and Twitter.
“Teagan and I didn’t invite him anywhere,” insisted Joshua. “We only check into a location on Foursquare if it’s a public forum, such as a restaurant, and we only do that when we are leaving. We never check into a hotel publicly, as we obviously don’t want fans that don’t know about boundaries showing up. And more importantly, Hill used Teagan’s real name to get her room number by concocting a story about being a family friend, even though the hotel had guaranteed our safety and anonymity.
“I really hate giving Hill anymore publicity than he already gets,” added Joshua, “but I want other stars to know what can happen, and how dangerous this kind of thing can be.”
Teagan added, “Fans are great, but there is a difference between a fan and someone who has scarier motives. Hill is an extreme, no doubt, but this happens all the time. If Joshua hadn’t been on his A game protecting me, who knows what could have happened? Glad I don’t have to find out.”
On Dec. 29, Presley took the stand first, followed by Joshua. The following day, a jury of six convicted him Hill on two counts of stalking. He could spend up to two years in jail, though Presley and Joshua urged the prosecutor to push for mental health help for him. Hill is currently out on bail until his sentencing Jan. 13 in Seattle.
To read up on Robert “The Traveler” Hill, check out The Melon’s column, The Hill Watch, at http://themelononline.com/tag/robert-the-traveller-hill.
