Charges: 3M vice president stalked Hudson woman, peeped into windows
An executive at 3M is accused of stalking a 24-year-old woman and peeping in her windows at her home in Hudson, Wisconsin.
Robert Cesena, 48, of Hudson, was charged Monday in St. Croix County Circuit Court with felony stalking and misdemeanor disorderly conduct, accusing him of looking in the woman's windows over the weekend.
Cesena is a global key account vice president at 3M, his LinkedIn page says. He started with the Maplewood, Minnesota-based company in 1997.
3M spokesperson Jennifer Ehrlich told Bring Me The News on Friday Cesena is on administrative leave from his job pending the outcome of the charges against him.
The charges
According to the criminal charges, Hudson police have responded several times in recent weeks to reports of suspicious activity at a duplex, where a 24-year-old woman lives in the lower-level with a roommate.
Police say there has been an ongoing stalking issue at the home involving a man who walks through the backyard and tries to look into windows of the lower level.
The most recent incident happened Sunday, March 13, with police responding to the duplex at 8:47 p.m. after a witness who lives nearby saw a man standing outside the home, nearby the home, and driving around the neighborhood in a Mini Cooper.
Police said the description of the man seen Sunday night matched the description of the man captured on surveillance cameras Saturday night as he tried to look in the windows of the duplex. The video had been shared among neighbors to warn residents about the peeping activity.
The 24-year-old woman who lives in the duplex called police Saturday night to report that incident, providing the video to police, which showed the man getting "extremely close to her window trying to see through the blinds, which were shut at this time."
The woman said she asked her boyfriend to stay with her because of the ongoing issue, which made her very uncomfortable, charges said. Police did not locate anyone in the area Saturday night but did note there were fresh foot tracks in the snow, the complaint says.
The woman had also reported to police on March 1 that she found footprints in the snow as if someone was trying to look in her windows on Feb. 25 and Feb. 28. Other witnesses had reported to police a peeping Tom, who they saw in the yard of the home on Feb. 27, March 1, March 4 and March 5.
Police located the Mini Cooper Sunday night and linked it to Cesena, charges said. Investigators spoke with Cesena and his wife, separately, that night.
The complaint says the couple gave conflicting accounts of what they were doing on Saturday night and police believed Cesena was lying about his whereabouts, noting he appeared nervous when being questioned by police.
Cesena was taken to the police station, where he said he didn't want to speak to officers unless he had an attorney. At that point, he was arrested for stalking and booked into jail.
He made his initial court appearance on March 14 and is scheduled to have a preliminary court hearing on March 29, court records show. He was released from jail after posting $2,500 bond, which includes conditions that he have no contact with the victim and other "named persons," and must not go near her home or work, among other locations and conditions.
