Sentencing delayed for attorney in stalking case

Sentencing for a Corona del Mar defense attorney who threatened and harassed an ex-girlfriend to the point where she had to leave the state was delayed a second time Friday.

David Scharf, 46, a former public defender turned private defense attorney, was convicted in April of stalking his ex-girlfriend, harassing her through e-mails, then violating a restraining order by trying to contact her through her mother.

In March 2004, Scharf began dating a woman he met online. Four months later, she told Scharf she no longer wanted to date him. Scharf continued to send aggressive e-mails to the woman; many were sexual and threatening.

The woman took her three children and left the state to avoid him. Before she left, Scharf went to the woman’s home and threatened to have her arrested for criminal acts she did not commit.

Scharf’s ex-girlfriend then took out a restraining order against him, which he violated when he e-mailed the woman’s mother.

Scharf is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 1 in Santa Ana court. He faces up to four years in prison.

— Joseph Serna