Federal Worker Busted For Phony Craigslist Sex Ads

MARCH 27--A Library of Congress employee is facing a federal felony charge after allegedly placing Craigslist “Casual Encounters” ads directing men seeking sex to the Virginia home of a 64-year-old woman whom he briefly dated.

Investigators charge that Kenneth Kuban, 61, targeted the woman as part of an extensive “harassment/stalking” campaign that began after the duo’s six-month “intimate relationship” ended in early-2011.

In a bid to curb the harassment, the woman--identified by her initials, “L.M.,” in U.S. District Court filings--secured restraining orders against Kuban, who is seen at right. Despite these court orders, Kuban took to Craigslist to continue tormenting “L.M.,” according to an affidavit sworn by a federal agent.

In a series of recent “Casual Encounters” ads, Kuban posed as a “senior lady” seeking to “meet a gentleman in his 50s that is Hung and that can give me some pleasuring.” A February ad included a photo of “L.M..”

After undercover agents responded to a March 12 Craigslist ad, they received replies that included a photo of “L.M.” and the woman’s home address. A purported suitor was directed to “just park by my mail box and walk up my lane i’ll meet at the front door.”

The phony Craigslist ads achieved their intended effect. Investigators reported that the postings “led to random men, often traveling from other States, to appear at L.M.’s property, looking to have sexual relations with her.” The woman said she “spends a good portion of her time searching Craigslist and ‘flagging’ these ads as inappropriate.”

“L.M.” told federal agents that she had to install cameras and security gates at the entrance to her farm “as a result of the constant flow of people showing up at her address” in response to the Craigslist ads. The woman added that she has “multiple signs posted on her fence and gates indicating that people who are there in response to ads on Craigslist were un-invited and are trespassing.”

Additionally, investigators reported, local cops have to be summoned to “L.M.”’s residence “frequently, often several times a day, to chase away the men who have been enticed by these personal ads.”

Federal agents linked Kuban to the “Casual Encounters” ads via a review of his work computer and material obtained from Craigslist pursuant to a search warrant. Kuban works as a film preservationist at the Library of Congress’s facility in Culpeper, Virginia.

Kuban was arrested Friday and charged with felony stalking. During a March 22 court appearance, a federal magistrate ordered Kuban jailed in advance of an April 1 preliminary hearing. If convicted of the charge, Kuban faces a maximum of five years in prison. (6 pages)