"19 years I've been dealing with this," Clarke told me today. He's talked to reporters about Massa's history of what Clarke calls predatory behavior before. But because the victims of Massa's advances were unwilling to come forward themselves, on the record, Clarke's warnings went nowhere.

That's not the case anymore. Since Josh Green published some of Clarke's (many) Massa stories at The Atlantic, Clarke's been busy with interviews. "I've been on the computer for 48 hours straight," he said. He's doing Fox later today. "People are loving the snorkeling thing." That would be this story:

Clarke says that Massa's roommate, Tom Maxfield, was also assaulted. "Tom lived on upper bunk," Clarke say. "When you're on ship, you're almost exhausted 24-7. So a lot of times you sleep with your uniform on. Tom and Massa shared a stateroom together. Massa climbed up on the top of his bunk, which is hard to do—you never crawl up on somebody else's bunk. He wakes up to Massa undoing his pants trying to snorkel him."

Clarke says a friend looked up "snorkeling" on Urban Dictionary after the story started getting around. Those definitions were slightly more obscene than theirs. "I was just using it as a substitute for oral copulation," he told me. (Attempted, non-consensual oral copulation, it should be noted.)

Maxfield and Massa had roomed together for a while, and were friendly. After this incident, according to Clarke, Maxfield didn't know what to do. Massa "begged and pleaded with Tom not to turn him in."

"Massa gets on his hands and knees and he's sobbing," Clarke said. And while he was begging, Massa told Maxfield about a friend on another ship he'd served on. That friend and Massa said had an understanding. According to Clarke, Massa said that understanding was: "What happens at sea stays at sea."

A couple years after the snorkeling, in 1997, Clarke met a Naval officer a few years younger than him in San Diego. Massa, it turned out, was this guy's commanding officer. "He's a huge asshole!" the guy said. "Everyone hates him!" They exchanged stories. This was his:

"He used to take his laundry down to the self-serve laundry on the ship," Clarke said. Which is odd, because everyone else used the laundry service. But the self-serve laundry was right by the berthing, where junior officers slept and showered. So Massa, the ship's Executive Officer, "just happens to be doing his own laundry at 6 am right when everyone's waking up."

"He was freaking totally meat-gazing!" As Clarke imagined Massa's internal monologue: "Who needs Playgirl when I can just come down here and pretend I'm doing my laundry?"

After the "Massa massage" incident (Massa rather forcefully attempted to give a subordinate one of his special massages while they shared a hotel room) Clarke says everyone on the ship called him "Lt Commandr Massa-ge."

The Mark Foley page scandal broke when Massa was running for congress. Clarke got an unsolicited email from an old shipmate: "I guess Massa is pretty pissed off that that Rep from Florida blew the lid off this Page scam," his friend wrote. "I bet he was chomping at the bit to get to DC. Now he's gonna have to work instead of going after little boys."

Clarke paints Massa as slightly pathetic. No one ever took their complaints to superiors because "they felt sorry for Massa." He was a "freak" and an "asshole," but he was also a competent officer. And Clarke feels especially sorry for his family. He's coming forward now—largely against the wishes of his friends—because he doesn't want anyone else to be victimized. "For years he's been abusing people and getting away with it."

Massa's 2006 campaign alarmed Clarke. "This guy's running for congress and he's molesting people!" He called a TV reporter in Rochester, NY, and told the stories of Massa's gropey tendencies. The reporter got Tom Maxfield to confirm the allegations, but then he told Maxfield he was going to fly him out and get him on camera. That spooked Maxfield, and he backed out. The reporter abandoned the story, despite having confirmation of serious misconduct by a man running for congress. Clarke emailed the reporter this week—"you should stick to weather and traffic," he told him.

Clarke wants it made clear that the Massa incidents are not by any means common in the Navy, as Massa himself has claimed in interviews. Clarke is sick of potshots at the Navy, and sick of people snickering about the outrageous stories on TV. "There were no boundaries being broken," he told me. "A guy was assaulted!"

As for MSNBC's coverage of the whole affair: "If I ever have a chance to see that O'Donnell guy I'm gonna pop him."

As I said, what Clarke wants is to tell his stories on his own terms and in his own words—and he'd like to do it on Howard Stern's show. Which, honestly, would make great radio. So if anyone from Stern's program is interested, I'll get you in touch with Peter Clarke. You won't regret it.

[Top pic: Getty]

Police are now puzzling over reams of obsessive, threatening internet content and searching for the person who broadcast Stephen's dying status updates. Tracing Stephen's footsteps now, the self-portrait of an abuser emerges.

The Associated Press reports that 25-year-old Stephen Garcia threatened murder-suicide during a court-ordered visit with son Wyatt mere days before going through with the act; their bodies were found early Sunday. Eight hours later, a third person posted a suicide note and photo tribute to Garcia's Facebook account. AP continues:

The memorial features a photo of Garcia and his son sleeping peacefully on a Mickey Mouse pillow, with the dates of their births and joint death overlaid in white cursive script.

A message at the bottom reads, in part, "There! Now we're sleeping with you ... Find it in your heart to forgive me. It's my job to protect him. I know God will welcome our son with open arms."

Wyatt's mother Katie requested a restraining order against Stephen in December, but was rejected on Jan. 12 because there was no "threat to petitioner or the minor child." But in the weeks leading up to his death, Stephen documented his prolific, threatening, and obsessive attempts to win Katie back on Facebook and a website seemingly erected specifically for antagonizing Katie, Detrimentalind.com, where he scoffed at the failed restraining order:

I will do what I must. Drag me to court. Get your stupid "restraining orders" pifft, can't stop love.

Though Stephen's suicide note wasn't unlocked on the Facebook profile I found—at vanity URL facebook.com/ StephenKatieWyatt—the profile picture appears to be the same sleeping portrait Stephen edited for his farewell. Of the five publicly available videos this account uploaded, three are of baby "WyWy" and two are photo montages: One dedicated to "Wyatt James Arthur Garcia!! 04-04-2009" and one for "Our Family," featuring mostly photos of Katie. Music choice in the former includes the retrospectively ominous "If You Don't Love Me By Now."

"Our Family" depicts Stephen and Katie snowboarding, playing beer pong, and lying in bed with Wyatt. (It will also give you a visceral disgust for all songs by the Postal Service.) I'm pretty sure there are two babies in this; the first one, with dark hair, doesn't look like Wyatt, does he?

On his website, Stephen he painstakingly archived reams of text messages, "love" letters, and curse-word strewn rants. The message at the top of the page seems to acknowledge the coming suicide:

A part of me wants to post every text, letter, recording, myspace screenshot, facebook screenshot of what Katie did to me and our son but I will not.  Its not my goal to destroy Katie or make her mad.  At first I wanted to so bad for what she did to us but now all I have left for her is love.

(to whoever it may concern: Everything is on my computer.)

In a letter to Katie, he apologizes for abuse (emphasis mine):

I'm sorry for cheating on you. I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry for hitting you. I'm sorry I made the wrong choices. I'm sorry I didn't fight for you. I'm sorry I let you walk out. [...] I'm sorry I said bad things about you when I got angry. Most of all I am sorry for not being sorry sooner. Katie it's not too late.

He describes his mission to win Katie back as life-or-death and blames her for "necessary evil":

I am crazy, crazy in love, YOU did this to me. YOU. I'm not psycho, I'm not obsessive, I'm not a stalker (necessary evil, I NEEDED TO KNOW THE TRUTH) [...] I am a human being and now I have my blood in a 9 month old life. My heart and mind can only take so much as a living breathing person, Katie. How much do you want / need to keep killing me?

Though Stephen swears "IM. NOT. GOING. TO. HURT. YOU. OR. WYATT," at one point he imagines his and Wyatt's deaths as the consequence for breaking a pledge:

I SWEAR on Wyatt JAMES Arthur Garcia's LIFE, his FUCKING soul, HIS WELL BEING. May he become ill and DIE. I SWEAR on my LIFE, SOUL, WELL BEING, may I DIE, NEVER be joined with my son in heaven, BURN forever in HELL and never EVER hold my BEAUTIFUL baby again. I SWEAR on all my family and friends lives. I SWEAR on YOUR life Katie. I SWEAR on my fucking LOVE for you, BABE.

Garcia's deeply disturbing website and Facebook profile are both still up. Still unknown: Whether authorities were contacted about Stephen's more recent threats; Katie's status; why Stephen was with Wyatt on the day of their deaths; how the hell this man was allowed within a 100-mile radius of his son. [AP] [Facebook] [Detrimentalind]

Update: Katie's family says the tragedy was avoidable, details from court proceedings denying the restraining order, and quotes from a Choose Your Own Adventure-style short story Stephen wrote depicting murder-suicide as punishment for Katie refusing his advances. [Hi-Desert Star]