Ex-Rush nurse gets 5 years for cyberstalking, sending strangers to victim's home: prosecutors

CHICAGO - A former nurse at Rush University Medical Center was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison for a cyberstalking campaign that targeted a man he met on a dating app, federal prosecutors said.

What we know:

Kevin Cruz, 34, of Oak Park, pleaded guilty last year to a federal cyberstalking charge, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

The charge stemmed from a 2021 encounter in which Cruz met the victim on the dating app Grindr. 

The two discussed a possible intimate relationship, and the victim sent Cruz nude images of himself, prosecutors said. 

Although the two met in person multiple times, the victim was not interested in a relationship, while Cruz was.

The backstory:

Between December 2021 and mid-2023, Cruz "harassed and intimidated" the victim and created multiple fake profiles on Grindr and other dating apps to impersonate him, the attorney's office said.

Prosecutors said Cruz arranged for men to show up at the victim’s home for sex, at times pretending to be the victim and telling the men to enter the home and engage in sexual activity even if the victim resisted. 

Cruz allegedly told the men the resistance was part of a role-playing scenario.

Several men went to the home expecting sex, according to prosecutors.

Cruz also sent the victim’s nude images to family members, including his mother, brother and cousins. 

In another incident, prosecutors said Cruz sent a text message to the victim’s mother from a fake number and falsely claimed her son had died by suicide.

What they're saying:

"Defendant’s conduct shocks the conscience," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan L. Shih said in a news release. "He created significant risks that the victim would be hurt, injured, and raped."

What's next:

In addition to the prison sentence, Cruz was also ordered to pay $17,313.18 in restitution to the victim.