DENVER – A Minnesota man who was arrested in October 2017 and accused of superimposing the faces of women, including four in Colorado, onto pornographic images was sentenced Thursday to more than 14 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced Friday.
Eric Ronald Bolduan, pleaded guilty in September to stalking and interstate communication violations in the case. As part of his 171-month sentence, Bolduan will be required to register as a sex offender once he has completed his prison time.
According to prosecutors and investigators, at least three of the women who were targeted were cross country team members at CU-Boulder. After making the fake pornographic images of the real women, he would identify them as the people whose photos he’d stolen, as well as their school and contact information.
Prosecutors said his purpose was “to portray the victim as involved in pornography and promiscuous behavior.”
After posting the fake images, Bolduan would then email links of the postings to the women whose images he stole, as well as their professors, teammates and family members, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Colorado said. He also stalked the victims and told them he planned on raping, torturing and killing them.
Prosecutors said Bolduan used a device to make himself anonymous while issuing the threats.
“Eric Bolduan’s sentence illustrates the FBI’s commitment to protecting our communities,” FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Dean Phillips said in a statement.
“The victims in this case experience real and profound suffering because of the acts of this defendant,” U.S. Attorney for Colorado Jason Dunn said. “It’s possible that more young women have been victimized but just haven’t been able to identify their assailant. We encourage anyone who has experienced this kind of threat to call the FBI.”
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of Bolduan’s is asked to contact the FBI at 303-629-7171, Option 1.