Affleck-Garner Stalker Deemed Insane, Locked Up

Man accused of shadowing Jen, Ben and their kids ordered into mental institution following brief trial

By Josh Grossberg Mar 30, 2010 9:35 PMTags
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Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck have tidied up their stalker problem.

Steven Richard Burky, the California man accused of harassing the Hollywood couple and their kids, was found not guilty by reason of insanity today in a short trial after pleading no contest to felony stalking charges and ordered locked up in an institution, E! News has learned.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Katherine Mader issued the ruling upon hearing reports from two psychiatrists who declared Burky was not of sound mind when he turned up last December—in violation of a protection order—near the Santa Monica nursery school that Affleck and Garner's two children attend.

"He first pleaded no contest two felony counts of stalking," says Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles district attorney. "After he plead, the judge presided over a short trial over and found him not guilty by reason of insanity."

He was ordered to Patton State Hospital indefinitely and won't be allowed out until doctors declare him mentally fit. The transfer is expected to take place sometime in the next two days.

Since prosecutors aren't sure exactly when Burky might be freed, they requested and obtained a 10-year restraining order barring the obsessed fan from coming within 500 yards of Garner, Affleck and their family.

That injunction strengthens the order the celebs took out against Burky in 2008, which, by his ignoring, is what landed him in custody this time around.

Burky, who once ran a blog called Satanic Panic, has been harassing Garner and Affleck since 2002, authorities say, and once claimed a vision of God led him to contact her.

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