A Tampa drifter admitted Wednesday that he sent semen-stained items and obscene letters to a young girl from Westmoreland County whose family posts their lives online.
Robert Fike, 50, pleaded to two counts of transfer of obscene materials to a minor.
He had been indicted in Pittsburgh in 2019 on eight counts of transferring material and a count of interstate stalking following an investigation by U.S. postal inspectors, the state attorney general's office and local police.
Fike's lawyer, Chris Rand Eyster, described the case as "sad all around" but said his client is getting the treatment he needs.
Fike, who was living out of a hotel when he first appeared in court in Tampa in December 2019, sent 10 packages to the girl in 2018 and 2019 that contained socks and leggings with his semen, as confirmed by DNA lab tests.
He also wrote letters addressed to the girl, 13 at the time, that contained graphic sexual content.
The letters indicated he had seen the girl and her family on the online program, which prosecutors described as featuring "wholesome family content."
The family contacted authorities after receiving the items. Fike sent the packages from post offices in Clearwater and Tampa and signed the letters "Rob." In addition to the socks and leggings for the girl, he sent toys or stuffed animals for her sister, also featured on the show.
In the letters, Fike referred to the 13-year-old girl as "the love of my life and, I pray, to be the mother of our children."
Federal agents executed a search warrant on Fike's residence in Tampa in 2019 and found unsent letters to the girl that contained sexual content as well as socks and leggings similar to the ones he'd previously mailed.
The agents also obtained a DNA sample from him.
Fike had at one point been deemed mentally incompetent and his attorney had argued for an insanity defense, but in August U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab ruled him competent to stand trial.
The judge set sentencing for April 5.
Fike faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.
First Published: December 2, 2021, 9:38 p.m.