Man who cyberstalked parent of Parkland shooting victim sentenced to year in prison

A California man was sentenced to a year in prison after sending hundreds of profane messages to the father of a mass shooting victim.

James Catalano, 62, of Fresno, pleaded guilty to cyberstalking in March, according to a release by the U.S. States Attorney's Office in Miami.

Court records show he sent more than 200 messages to Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime died in the mass shooting at Parkland, Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day in 2018. Guttenberg has been an outspoken advocate for gun safety since the death of his daughter and started Orange Ribbons For Gun Safety.

Waiving his Miranda rights, Catalano told law enforcement in a July 2022 interview that he thought Guttenberg was "using his dead daughter to advance his political agenda," and Catalano "was trying to put (Guttenberg) in check by sending him the messages," court records show.

Catalano's lawyers did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's emailed request for comment Tuesday.

"I hope the outcome of this is that he gets well," Guttenberg told USA TODAY in an interview Tuesday. "I want people to know then they harass someone like you, when they harass someone like me, when they harass a member of Congress, or they just harass a neighbor...there's a chance (they're) gonna get arrested. And (they) ought to not do it."

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Messages described mass shooting victim with profane language

According to the criminal complaint, Catalano began sending messages to Guttenberg through the Orange Ribbons for Gun Safety website contact form around December 2021.

FBI investigator Michael Scotina said in the complaint that the messages "referred to his daughter, the manner of her death, her pain and suffering as she was murdered, and his advocacy against gun violence."

Examples of the more than 200 messages were included in the criminal complaint. The messages used profane language to describe both Fred and Jaime Guttenberg and called for celebration of Jaime's death.

Some messages referenced Guttenberg's social media posts about gun safety reform, with the messages expressing support for Republican politicians and admonishing Democratic politicians.

"We want (Guttenberg) to be scared and not sleeping at night. (Expletive) off (Guttenberg). (Expletive) Joe Biden," one message from February 2022 read.

"Celebrate (Jaime) being slaughtered, Decapitated. Silenced. Dancing no more. God Bless President Trump. (Expletive) Joe Biden," another message from June 2022 read.

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Guttenberg says prison sentence is important to show online harassing has consequences

Guttenberg has been an outspoken advocate for gun safety since his daughter Jaime was one of 17 people killed in the 2018 Parkland shooting. Nikolas Cruz, a former student at the school, pleaded guilty to committing the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history in 2021, and was sentenced to life in prison in 2022.

Guttenberg was also one of several family members that received harassing messages from Brandon Michael Fleury in the months after the shooting, who was later sentenced to 5½ years in prison.

He said that the messages from Catalano started as attacks on his political views after a public argument with an aid of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Twitter, now known as X. At first Guttenberg said he thought the messages would only be about that political dispute. But as the messages got "far more intense and far more personal," Guttenberg said he decided to go to the FBI.

"His messages attacked me for my political positions, but they always became more increasingly despicable and personal." Guttenberg said. "The things he said about my daughter, knowing what I've been through, I'll never be able to un-see it."

He said that the sentencing is important to show people that they can be held accountable for the things they say online.

"We have a right to speak our mind. We have a right to disagree with one another. We have a right to differences of opinion. But we don't have a right to harass, threaten and intimidate," he said. "And I hope that people change."

Contributing: Chelsey Cox, Christal Hayes, Emily Bohatch USA TODAY; Hannah Phillips, Palm Beach Post