FRESNO - Kevin James Strutz, 51, of Ceres, pleaded guilty today to two counts of cyberstalking, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, Strutz secretly made a video recording of an adult female who stayed, as an Airbnb tenant, at the residence where Strutz was living in Ceres in February 2020.

The victim ended her stay at the residence when she discovered a cell phone message that Strutz had left in a shared bathroom. Over the next several months, Strutz continued to contact the victim through multiple Facebook accounts. The messages became increasingly aggressive, including an image of the victim exiting a shower at the Airbnb residence that had been taken without her knowledge or consent. Strutz sent the image to her, demanding that she send him a sexually explicit video or he would send the photo to her friends and family.

When investigators reviewed the evidence, they learned that Strutz had previously sent a series of electronic messages and handwritten letters to a different female victim. More specifically, from approximately September 2018 through late December 2018, Strutz left 15 handwritten letters that the defendant had placed on the victim’s vehicle. Many of the letters contained threats designed to coerce the victim into engaging in sexual acts with Strutz. He also sent messages to the victim from five different Facebook accounts and attempted to contact the victim using phone calls and messages.

Strutz is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on Nov. 4, 2023. Strutz faces a maximum statutory penalty for each count of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after considering any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which consider several variables.