After dealing with months of intrusive phone calls, text messages and social media posts from a Sicamous man she didn't know, Jessica Klikach chose to speak up.
For the Shuswap realtor, this involved going to the authorities and pursuing legal action against her alleged harasser, Christopher Thomas Mulvagh.
On Dec. 12, 2024, Mulvagh was charged with one count of criminal harassment. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser included charge of fear of injury/damage to person/property, and with a peace bond was given a year's recognizance.
While the reported harassment stopped after this, Klikach said it's important to have the incident documented should it resume at a later date or happen to another woman.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important that we do stand up and report it, because now that this is on record, the next time he tries it, then the punishment will be much more severe," she said. "The pattern of behaviour needs to be identified."
Klikach's ordeal began when a client listed their recently deceased parents' house with her.
鈥淎nd then things got a little weird a few weeks in, and the client asked me to contact him,鈥� said Klikach, referring to Mulvagh.
Klikach explained she鈥檚 legally obligated to take directions on the transaction from the client themselves, not a third party.
Klikach said she had one conversation with Mulvagh, in which she informed him he was free to counsel his friend, but she wasn鈥檛 going to take orders from him directly regarding the listing.
Following that conversation, it 鈥渟tarted to get really strange, it started to go off the rails if you will.鈥� She claimed he started calling, texting and emailing, slandering her on social media 24/7, and then started demanding money because he had recommended her as a realtor to the client.
Klikach said she asked Mulvagh to stop contacting her and blocked him on all platforms, but he reportedly started calling from different numbers and occasionally got through to her. She had the foresight, however, to record and screenshot all his contact with her.
鈥淚 knew that it would take a certain amount of evidence to actually have anything happen, so the protocol is to endure so there can be a case built.鈥�
At that point, Klikach alerted her company as to what was happening, and their legal team sent a cease and desist order to Mulvagh, but 鈥渉e persisted.鈥�
It escalated from there, with him allegedly telling her he鈥檇 find her, and leaving not direct threats but intimidating messages at all hours of the day and night.
Feeling 鈥減retty spooked,鈥� Klikach installed cameras in her home and started changing her behaviour, before finally getting the RCMP involved. However, Klikach said Mulvagh kept escalating his behaviour until she finally took a vacation to get out of town for a bit.
鈥淚t persisted, and then it suddenly stopped,鈥� she said, adding that before leaving town, she had given a video statement with the RCMP and went through all the formal avenues they needed, and 鈥渢hen the Crown got involved.鈥�
After reviewing the case, the Crown told Klikach that at one point, Mulvagh had contacted her 197 times in one week alone. They then pursued a restraining order of 200 metres that is now in place, and he has a probation officer, but still lives in Sicamous, as does Klikach. Mulvagh appeared in Salmon Arm Courts on April 1 this year, with the peace order put in place on July 22, and so far, he has had no further contact.
鈥淟ooking back at it, it was really terrifying; it鈥檚 not something that I think a lot of professionals think about, but as realtors, we put ourselves at risk a lot," Klikach said. "We meet a lot of strangers in strange places, and I would really like to use this really unfortunate event to highlight safety.鈥�
She added that if a realtor is asking a client for identification or asking to meet somewhere public, that they understand the agent is establishing safe protocols. In her two realty offices, in Sicamous and now Salmon Arm, they share their locations with each other on their cell phones, have safety practices in place and support each other as a team.
鈥淎s a realtor, I鈥檓 well known... that鈥檚 my job is to attract attention so that people look at properties,鈥� said Klikach, adding she won鈥檛 change her lifestyle as a result of this. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important that we don鈥檛 walk around with a victim mentality.鈥�
That is why Kllikach is encouraging women who have experienced any harassment to speak up, report it, and talk about it in an effort to end the stigma and make changes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate, it鈥檚 something we need to change," said Klikach. "I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 something we鈥檒l be able to change, but... speak up. I think a lot of times women feel that if they speak up, it will get worse, but you need to talk to the right persons,鈥� she said, with her own successful fight proof of that. 鈥淎nd I do think that the culture around harassment of women is changing, and the tolerance is decreasing.鈥�
