A former Marine from Orange County pleaded guilty Monday to a federal stalking cost after he ran a prolonged harassment marketing campaign in opposition to knowledgeable gamer from Canada, in accordance to authorities.
Evan Baltierra, 29, of Trabuco Canyon faces up to 5 years in jail, in accordance to the US lawyer’s workplace for the Central District of California.
Baltierra moderated the gamer’s on-line channel, the place she streamed reside video of herself taking part in the favored multiplayer on-line role-playing sport World of Warcraft, after she and Baltierra met on-line, in accordance to charging paperwork filed in federal court docket.
They first met in particular person on the BlizzCon conference in Anaheim in November 2019, the place the sufferer held a meet-and-greet occasion together with her followers, in accordance to the paperwork. Baltierra requested the girl to be his “valentine” on-line, however she refused as a result of she was in a relationship.
The sufferer later discovered from different folks within the on-line group that Baltierra was making an attempt to discover her dwelling deal with, and he or she blocked him from her social media accounts and her on-line stream channel, in accordance to court docket paperwork.
“After this assembly, Baltierra requested to meet the sufferer in her hometown in Canada, which made her really feel uncomfortable,” prosecutors mentioned. “After the sufferer blocked Baltierra on numerous social media accounts, starting in June 2020, Baltierra created a whole lot of social media accounts to ship the sufferer threatening messages.”
A portion of a January 2021 message despatched to the sufferer on Twitter learn: “(t)imes ticking…ready for the fitting alternative.”
According to prosecutors, Baltierra employed an unknown third get together in October 2020 to create a number of photoshopped nude pictures of the sufferer, modifying her face onto pornographic pictures.
He posted the faked footage to a number of pornographic web sites and Internet boards from November 2020 to March 2022, prosecutors mentioned. He additionally despatched the photographs to the sufferer’s family and friends, posted hyperlinks to the photographs on social media and “instructed others on-line to seek for the sufferer’s identify to see bare footage of her.”
The sufferer obtained a short lived restraining order in opposition to Baltierra in January 2021, however he began posting her private info — together with her identify and metropolis of residence, which had been listed on the order — to social media and through her reside online game streams, prosecutors mentioned.
The harassment continued, prosecutors mentioned, as he posted the sufferer’s Twitter deal with to pornographic web sites together with the photoshopped pictures.
“During the sufferer’s reside streams of video video games, Baltierra used a number of accounts to regularly submit harassing messages,” prosecutors mentioned. “Baltierra’s spamming of the sufferer made it not possible for her to stream herself taking part in video video games and compelled her to cease streaming in February 2021.”
He and the sufferer reached a civil settlement in April 2021 and he agreed to not contact her, her household and associates, prosecutors mentioned. The sufferer agreed to dissolve the non permanent restraining order in return.
But two months later, Baltierra known as the police division within the sufferer’s metropolis and requested a welfare verify “by mendacity to the police that the sufferer had made threats on-line that she was going to commit suicide,” in accordance to the US lawyer’s workplace.
He additionally tried to get the sufferer’s dwelling deal with in the course of the cellphone name, prosecutors mentioned. Officers later accomplished the welfare verify on the sufferer’s dwelling.
The harassment continued as Baltierra despatched the sufferer threatening messages from January to March of this 12 months utilizing a number of social media accounts, prosecutors mentioned.
One of the messages learn, “get a casket prepared,” prosecutors mentioned.
In March, he wrote a letter to the sufferer’s boyfriend’s mother and father stating that the scenario was going to finish badly for her, in accordance to prosecutors.
Also in March, investigators served a search warrant at Baltierra’s dwelling and took a number of gadgets, together with his iPhone, desktop pc and a number of thumb drives together with a 9-millimeter handgun. Investigators discovered a number of emails used to harass the sufferer linked to Baltierra’s gadgets, alongside along with his search historical past.
He was arrested May 23 by FBI brokers at his dwelling, in accordance to federal prosecutors. He admitted to investigators that he harassed the girl.
“Baltierra additionally admitted to sending the sufferer an unsolicited suspicious package deal in March 2022 that later was decided to comprise a field of condoms,” prosecutors mentioned. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
