FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2013, file photo provided by Miss Universe, Miss California Teen USA 2013 Cassidy Wolf is crowned Miss Teen USA 2013.
A California hacker pleaded guilty Tuesday to secretly photographing Miss Teen USA and other young women through their computer webcams, and then threatening to expose them if they didn’t send him more pictures.
Jared James Abrahams, 19, admitted to hacking into the young women’s webcams and photographing them without their knowledge, the Associated Press reports. Prosecutors say that Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf, also 19, was just one of many women Abrahams secretly photographed. According to court records, Abrahams also sent the women emails threatening to post the pictures on social media sites if they didn’t send him more nude pictures.
Abrahams pleaded guilty to three counts of extortion, and could face up to 11 years in prison or a $1 million fine. Abrahams and Wolf went to Great Oak High School in Temecula, Calif., together. When Wolf didn’t respond to his demands for further nude photos, he posted a naked picture he had taken of her online. Abrahams told Wolf, “Your dream of being a model will be transformed into a porn star,” according to an FBI affidavit.
Abrahams told the court he has autism and his lawyer argues that his condition played a major role in the crime.
[AP]