James David Rogers, 58, was sentenced on September 8, 2022 in Los Angeles County for two counts of mailing threatening communications, one count of uttering threats by interstate communication, and two counts of stalking. He was arrested in November 8, 2019, and he pled guilty in April of 2022.
The crimes were committed against ‘CSI: Miami’ actress Eva LaRue and her then minor daughter, Kaya McKenna Callahan. Beginning in March of 2007, Rogers sent about 3 dozen letters to LaRue and, beginning in 2015, to her daughter who was then 13 years old. The threats continued for 12 years. In the letters, he threatened to torture, kill, and sexually assault LaRue and to sexually assault and impregnate her daughter. He also phoned the girl’s school claiming to be her father and that he was waiting outside to pick her up. He called himself ‘Freddie Krueger’ in some of the letters.
The FGG investigation was conducted by the FBI, beginning in 2019. They used a DNA profile developed from saliva on the letters Rogers sent to LaRue. The final confirmation was made by surreptitious sampling from a straw that Rogers had discarded at an Arby’s restaurant in Heath, Ohio.
This is the first time that FGG has been used to clear a case involving federal criminal charges in the United States.
The case was also notable because the investigators appear to have violated the Terms of Service of the genealogical databases that they used in the course of the investigation, which permitted law enforcement access only for decedents as well as crimes of homicide, aggravated and sexual assault, but not threatened homicide and sexual assault. Under the Terms of Service, permission was not extended to cases where there was a threat to public safety.
Several genetic genealogists criticized the investigation as being unethical for violating the Terms of Service, and possibly compromising the trust that the public has placed in law enforcement when giving their permission to access their information. Margaret Press of the Board of Certification for Investigative Genetic Genealogy issued a statement that the FBI’s violation of the Terms of Service was unethical and might compromise the future of genetic genealogy.
Rogers was sentenced to 40 months in a federal correctional facility.
Sources:
Casarez, Jean, and Brandon Griggs. “This ‘CSI: Miami’ Actress Was Threatened by a Stalker for 12 Years. The FBI Caught Him After He Left His DNA on a Fast-Food Straw.” CNN, September 9, 2022. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/09/entertainment/eva-larue-stalker-sentenced/index.html.
Edwards, Jonathan. “A TV Actress Got Menacing Letters for Years. Her Stalker is Going to Prison.” Washington Post, September 12, 2022. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/12/eva-larue-csi-actress-stalker/.
Press, Margaret. “Board of Certification for Investigative Genetic Genealogy.” Facebook (Post), September 12, 2022. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/BCIGGorg/posts/pfbid0uH89fawi8Mk47G6NYVPm2EzorUxofG9wUoW4h7qQjvnNC1fic7BSHViPSUqbvmCyl.
Sederstrom, Jill. “Fake ‘Freddie Krueger’ Sentenced for Stalking Actress Eva LaRue, Her Daughter for 12 Years.” Oxygen, September 9, 2022. Accessed September 13, 2022. https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/james-david-rogers-sentenced-eva-larue-daughter-stalking.