A 45-year-old Portland man who said he called relatives of the deceased victims of last summer’s Colorado movie theater shooting was sentenced Friday to get mental-health help.

Kevin Purfield pleaded guilty earlier this week to misdemeanor stalking and telephonic harassment for repeatedly contacting the brother of a 24-year-old woman who was killed during the July 2012 screening of “The Dark Knight Rises.” He admitted on his blog to contacting relatives of 11 of the 12 people who died in the shooting -- telling them that their loved ones weren't dead. Instead, he believed their bodies hadn't been recovered and they were missing.

Family members repeatedly asked Purfield to stop phoning, emailing or texting them. They asked police for help.

Friday, Purfield appeared in Multnomah County Circuit Court to be sentenced. Judge Thomas Ryan sentenced him to a year of formal probation, during which time he will participate in mental-health court -- a program designed to help people with mental illness find and retain housing, make doctor’s appointments, stay on their medications and stay out of trouble with the law. Participants typically make regular visits to the court over the course of a year.





The judge told Purfield he will likely have to check in weekly or perhaps every two weeks.

Ryan also ordered Purfield not to have any contact with victims of the Colorado shooting. The judge told Purfield is not to use the Internet or a phone without prior permission.





"Let's just put all of this in the past, OK?" Ryan said.





"OK, thank you," Purfield said.





Purfield had been expecting to be released from jail after nearly two months of incarceration since his arrest. But the judge told him he'd be released on Tuesday, and that a probation officer and mental-health professionals would be there to greet him.



