A young man has been arrested and pleaded guilty to victimizing at least 19 women in a computer hacking case that including publishing private photographs to a social networking site, and the creation of a website for the sole purpose of revenge, as reported by Tampa Bay Online.
J.B.C., 24, pleaded guilty to cyber stalking and unauthorized access to a computer - both are federal charges.
According to documents filed in Tampa's U.S. District Court, J.B.C. will be entering his plea before U.S. Judge Richard Lazzara on August 5.
Lieutenant Bill Sohl, of the Belleair Police Department, said, "All of a sudden they were getting phone calls from their friends, saying, "'Do you know what's on your Facebook page?'"
Sohl said that the 19 women are "devastated" by the cyber attack.
Sohl continued to state that J.B.C. admitted to hacking into 350 to 500 different e-mail accounts of women he had known that had attended a private local high school. Sohl said J.B.C. was able to locate, and share, nude and semi-nude photographs for at least 19 of the women.
J.B.C. admitted, in his plea agreement, that his goal was "to harass the victims and cause them emotional distress" by publishing the compromising photographs - and some videos - on different websites.
Anne Borghetti, the attorney representing J.B.C., would not discuss the case with media.
J.B.C. started on his plan by sending e-mails to the women stating that they had received a greeting card. To open and read the cards they first had to enter in their e-mail addresses and passwords.
Once they completed that step, they failed to receive their promised greetings.
Sohl claims that once J.B.C. had their email addresses and passwords, he searched through their computers for their private photographs and videos. Allegedly some of the photographs were meant only for the eyes of their boyfriends - serving in the military overseas.
From there, Sohl states, J.B.C. could easily hack into their personal accounts on the social networking site, Facebook, using the same e-mail addresses and passwords, and change their profile photos to the risqué ones he had stolen.
Along with Facebook, J.B.C. allegedly posted the private photos on the websites "Pinellas County Sluts", "Dumpster Sluts" and a forum titled, "Revenge."
Of J.B.C.'s actions Sohl said, "He was very computer savvy. He worked on a computer all the time."
J.B.C. was employed, with access to a computer, in a temp agency at the time of his arrest.
The maximum penalty in the two charges carry up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. Although, under sentencing guidelines, J.B.C. is expected to receive a lesser term.
He must also forfeit his laptop computer and desktop computer.
Of the case's ramifications, Sohl concluded, "This sort of stuff needs to be out there, so people understand they have to watch what they send."
Facing one or more criminal charges? Contact a criminal defense attorney to help you with your case. Jail time and fines might be avoidable with proper representation.
