ORANGE CITY – Despite repeated warnings from law enforcement, an Iowa woman continued to call and harass an aggrieved party, and now a jury has found her guilty with sentencing on the horizon.
Sioux County Attorney Thomas Kunstle announced that 53-year-old Blanca Ann Boom-Struyk of Sheldon, Iowa, was convicted by a jury ony June 18 in Sioux County Magistrate Court, for the crime of Harassment In The Third Degree, a Simple Misdemeanor. Assistant County Attorney Dawn Wilson prosecuted the case on behalf of the State of Iowa in cooperation with local law enforcement.
This case arose in 2021 when the victim began complaining to law enforcement that they did not want to be contacted by Boom-Struyk, who had ignored the victim’s requests not to contact them. Over the course of 2022 and 2023, multiple law enforcement officers from multiple law enforcement agencies instructed Boom-Struyk not to contact the victim, warning of criminal harassment. The victim also blocked Boom-Struyk’s telephone number. Notwithstanding this, Boom-Struyk initiated telephone calls from a restricted number to the victim on December 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 in 2023.
Boom-Struyk was charged and pleaded not guilty. The case proceeded to a jury trial on June 18, 2024. The same day, the jury found Boom-Struyk guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of Harassment in the Third Degree, a Simple Misdemeanor. The jury specifically found Boom-Struyk acted with the specific intent to intimidate, annoy, or alarm the victim. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for July 16, 2024 at 2:00 p.m.
