{The 17 victims of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman. Douglas. {Photo by Sharon Aron Baron}
By Sharon Aron Baron
A man was sentenced to 12 months in prison for cyberstalking the father of a Parkland shooting victim.
James Catalano, 62, from Fresno, California, was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment on Oct. 20 after being found guilty of cyberstalking the father of a victim from the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting.
The case reveals an alarming pattern of harassment by Catalano, who sent a string of macabre messages aimed at a prominent anti-gun violence activist who had lost his daughter in the incident.
Official court documents shield The victim’s identity, revealing only initials. However, in a statement to the Daily Beast, Fred Guttenberg confirmed that he was the individual targeted by Catalano’s campaign.
The campaign of intimidation ran from December 2021 to July 2022, with the messages graphically describing the death of the victim’s daughter.
Beyond the harrowing descriptions, Catalano’s messages also waded into the contentious waters of the gun control debate, openly challenging and disparaging the victim’s anti-gun violence activism.
According to the Fresno Bee, in 2022, Catalano mocked the death of Guttenberg’s daughter, said she was “rotting in hell,” and disparaged the 14-year-old with racist and sexist insults.
In March 2023, Catalano pled guilty to his cyberstalking charges. According to the court’s records, Catalano had, without hesitation, admitted to sending the distressing messages.
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