A property manager from California, James Catalano, has been sentenced to one year in federal prison for cyberstalking the father of a teenage girl who died in the 2018 Parkland school shooting. Catalano sent over 200 vile messages to Fred Guttenberg, mocking the death of his daughter and insulting him. Prosecutors described the messages as “callous and cruel.” Catalano also received three years of probation and is required to undergo mental health treatment. AP reported
A property manager from California, James Catalano, has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for sending over 200 offensive online messages to Fred Guttenberg, the father of a teenage girl who was tragically killed in the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. The sentencing was carried out by U.S. District Judge Robert Scola in Miami, following Catalano’s guilty plea to cyberstalking charges in March. Prosecutors described the messages as “callous and cruel.”
Catalano’s victim, Fred Guttenberg, lost his 14-year-old daughter, Jaime Guttenberg, in the shooting incident in Parkland on February 14, 2018. This devastating event claimed the lives of 14 students and three staff members. In addition to the prison sentence, Catalano has also been ordered to undergo mental health treatment and will be placed on three years of probation.
Over a period of eight months, starting in December 2021, Catalano sent Guttenberg messages that not only celebrated Jaime Guttenberg’s death but also reveled in the injuries she suffered. He also mocked Guttenberg’s grief and directed obscene insults and slurs towards him and his daughter.
During the investigation, Catalano admitted that his anger towards Guttenberg stemmed from the latter’s vocal advocacy for stronger gun laws following his daughter’s tragic death. Catalano believed that Guttenberg was using his daughter’s death to advance his own political agenda and claimed that he sent the messages as a way to “put Guttenberg in check.”
In court documents, Assistant U.S. Attorney Arielle Klepach stated that Catalano’s motive for stalking Guttenberg and sending him disturbing messages was solely based on his disagreement with Guttenberg’s political views. She emphasized that Catalano took advantage of Guttenberg’s grief and the horrific nature of his daughter’s death in an attempt to silence him.
It is worth noting that Catalano also sent similar messages to others, although he has not faced charges in those cases.
Fred Guttenberg expressed his satisfaction with the sentence, stating that it sends a message to individuals who engage in cyberstalking against the families of shooting victims. He believes that this ruling demonstrates that such behavior will not go unpunished. Guttenberg further highlighted that Judge Scola acknowledged that while none of the messages contained direct threats, their cumulative effect constituted a threat.
As of now, there has been no comment from Catalano’s legal representatives regarding the sentence.
It is important to mention that the perpetrator of the shooting, the former student responsible for Jaime Guttenberg’s death and the deaths of others, is currently serving a life sentence..