“As an adult, I’ve had a few interactions with Brooke Shields,” begins 49-year-old John Rinaldi, who says he has followed Shields’ career since he was 12 years old. Rinaldi was convicted in New York last summer on misdemeanor charges of stalking and harassing the star.
He goes on to describe attending several Broadway shows the actress appeared in over the years, giving Shields flowers after a performance, waiting for her at the stage door, and purchasing an expensive gift for Shields to mark the birth of her daughter.
“That’s what you do – you come bearing gifts,” explains Rinaldi, who describes the present as a gesture of goodwill.
John stresses he felt he had a personal connection to the Shields family, which he says began in childhood after he claims Shields’ mom Terri (through letters he had written to Brooke’s fan club) became aware that the young Rinaldi was sexually molested at the hands of a neighbor. He claims Terri Shields intervened on his behalf by calling his father and alerting him to the alleged abuse. “Terri Shields came to my rescue,” says Rinaldi. “She saved my life.”
Rinaldi, who says he considered Shields and her mother ‘friends of the family,” was convicted on misdemeanor charges of stalking and harassing the star in June 2016. He says his troubles only began after the actress moved with her family into the same New York neighborhood Rinaldi says he has lived in for over 20 years.
In the video above, Rinaldi describes his more recent interactions with Shields. He says he has attended public events where the actress was appearing, walked past her house, and approached her outside a neighborhood coffee shop. It was on this occasion that Rinaldi claims Shields was rude to him.
“After Brooke was rude in the neighborhood, I ran into her husband,” says Rinaldi. “I said ‘Hey Mr. Henchy, Brooke has been a little rude’ and he says ‘Ah no, don’t worry about it. Brooke’s very overprotective. She’s very private.’”
John admits he once parked his car on the street outside Shields house, and then wrote her name on his back windshield, in an act he says was him “being playful.”
After that, says John, the police told him not to walk down her street anymore. “It’s been my neighborhood for 20 years,” says Rinaldi. “It wasn’t intentional. This is all innocent.”
In a bench trial in June, John Rinaldi was found guilty of four counts of stalking and harassing Shields. He says he served just 28 days of a 60-day jail sentence at New York City’s Rikers Island.
Is this “ longtime fan” of actress Brooke Shields guilty of stalking and harassing the star? Tune in to the show on Thursday to see how Dr. Phil addresses John Rinaldi’s claim he’s innocent. Check here to see where you can watch.