Slashdot Mirror
Arrest Made In Webcam Highjacking Extortion Case
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "CNN reports that Jared James Abrahams, a 19-year-old computer science student, has been arrested for allegedly hijacking the webcams of young women — among them reigning Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf — taking nude images, then blackmailing his victims to send him more explicit material or else be exposed. Abrahams admitted he had 30 to 40 'slave computers' — or other people's electronic devices he controlled — and has had as many as 150 total. His arrest came six months after a teenager identified in court documents as C.W. alerted authorities. She has since publicly identified herself as Cassidy Wolf, the recently crowned Miss Teen USA. Wolf received messages featuring pictures of her at her Riverside County address and others apparently taken months earlier when she lived in Orange County, says the criminal complaint (PDF). The message explained 'what's going to happen' if Wolf didn't send pictures or videos or 'do what I tell you to do' in a five-minute Skype videoconference, according to the criminal complaint. 'Either you do one of the things listed below or I upload these pics and a lot more (I have a LOT more and those are better quality) on all your accounts for everybody to see and your dream of being a model will be transformed into a pornstar (sic),' wrote Abrahams. FBI agents raided Abrahams' Temecula home in June and seized computers and hardware, cellphones and hacking software, court records show. Outside the court, Abrahams' lawyer, Alan Eisner, said that his client's family feels 'profound regret and remorse' over what happened. Eisner told CNN affiliate KTLA that Abrahams is autistic. 'The family wants to apologize for the consequences of his behavior to the families who were affected.'"
Not all rape has any of those, and in fact most rapes don't. Rape doesn't have to be violent to be terribly degrading.
It's his family that is expressing regret, not him.
and that can be wor(s)e then doing jail time.
Sex offender status for life, And yes, that kind of probation is far more stringent than regular probation, and regular probation is not fun. Even if he gets a no jail deal, breaking any of probation's rules is enough to get him sent to a real jail cell. He will have to report whenever he's told to, if he doesn't, jail. He will be monitored for drugs/alcohol. Failing a test means jail. He will have to report his living address whenever he moves (if his probation officer permits him to move). If he doesn't, jail. Any other type of crime he may commit in the future while on probation will carry a heavier than normal sentence. He was studying computer science in college, that career is now out the window, and he'll probably have to stay off computers as part of his probation, so he will probably re-offend.
He has irrevocably changed the course of his very young and promising life, thinking he would never get caught. Lots of guys like him in jail who thought they were too good to get caught.
OTOH, a terribly degrading thing doesn't have to be called rape.