Ex-3M exec found guilty of trespassing, peeping in windows of 24-year-old woman's Hudson home

Instead of being sentenced, the 49-year-old man was ordered into a treatment and diversion program.

September 12, 2022 at 9:50PM

A former 3M Co. executive was found guilty Monday on accusations that he peeped into the windows of a 24-year-old woman's home in Hudson, Wis.

Robert T. Cesena, 49, of Hudson, pleaded no contest in St. Croix County Circuit Court to one count of criminal trespassing and two counts of disorderly conduct in connection with allegations that he snooped in the woman's ground-level windows of her duplex in March.

Rather than impose a sentence, Judge Scott Needham approved a plea agreement that directs Cesena to enter a treatment and diversion program. If Cesena completes the three-year program, the case will be dismissed, said defense attorney Aaron Nelson.

Jennifer Ehrlich, a spokeswoman for Maplewood-based 3M, said Cesena no longer works for the company. Ehrlich did not say when his employment ended or whether he resigned or was fired.

Cesena had been with 3M since the late 1990s, according to his LinkedIn page, which also says he became global key account vice president in September 2019.

According to the charges, the woman told police the incidents had been "ongoing and making her very uncomfortable" to the degree that she asked her boyfriend to stay with her overnight.

She shared with an officer some exterior home surveillance video that showed a man "sneaking up to her window and getting his face extremely close to her window trying to see through the [closed] blinds," according to the charges.

A resident in the upper unit of the duplex told police that she saw a man in the yard on Feb. 27, Feb. 28 and March 4.

Others in the neighborhood reported a man in a Mini Cooper who raised their suspicions as he drove around. Police located the vehicle and traced it to Cesena.

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Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota.

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