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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.'"
The current excuse of the day when some nerdy low-life gets caught up to no good. Here is a hint, just because you have problems coping, it does not mean "I am autistic" is an excuse for being an arsehole.
Well, here's hoping that Abrahams gets a fairly long sentence. Coercion and blackmail is coercion and blackmail, regardless of the circumstances.
Someone with enough knowledge to commit this crime can't possibly hide behind autism as an excuse. This person formed intent, then a plan and executed the plan uncounted times. He communicated his intentions quite well which doesn't really point to autism. This young man is a sexual predator and probably always will be. Autism doesn't make you a pervert either, you have do that on your own.
I applaud this brave young lady for standing up to this creep. She did the right thing.
This is worse than bullying, it's sexual harassment and extortion.
And I agree, Ms. Wolf did a courageous thing to stand up and present evidence so this lowlife could be stopped.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
I was wondering how long it would be before some 'blame the victim' asshole came along. Well, you didn't disappoint.
That makes sense. Until you are caught, you typically have only your perspective on what you're doing. There's no one else out there telling you that you've made a mistake. A lot of people change their minds about their activities once they realize that other people don't approve.
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Actually what I think is the court should take into account is the fact that this person's brain is not developed yet which might lead him to do... that.. and think 1) it's a fine thing to do and 2) he'd get away with it.
He's 19. He is legally an adult and should have more than a well-enough developed brain to realize that sexually blackmailing women is wrong. Most people would easily grasp the concept years before.
That knocks out #1, which is really the only relevant point because you don't deserve any leeway for thinking that it's okay to do something wrong so long as you don't get caught for it. Poor impulse control and an inattention to the consequences of one's actions at that age is the opposite of a mitigating factor.
Everyone involved really ought to consider that before they put him in the no-rehab hell-on-earth called American prisons for 20 years and turn him into a REAL criminal.
This isn't just some little ha-ha prank or delinquency. He broke into a person's computer, commandeered it for his own amusement, and then threatened the future life and career of a woman if she refused to degrade herself for his sick sexual entertainment. The first half? Maybe your argument holds water. The second? That IS being a real criminal. This was sexual assault in all but contact -- that same sort sexual self-gratification through the control and degradation of an unwilling party.
I won't disagree that 20 years in the current system will do next to nothing to reform him or prepare him for better integration into society, but let's not pretend that he deserves to get special, kids-gloves attention just because the system is broken. What he did was flat out evil and deserves to be punished -- harshly -- by whatever standards we have as a society set for sexual predators and blackmailers. Because that is what he is.
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That makes sense. Until you are caught, you typically have only your perspective on what you're doing. There's no one else out there telling you that you've made a mistake. A lot of people change their minds about their activities once they realize that other people don't approve.
Ah, bullshit - I stole a pair of JNCO jeans once when I was a pre-teen, and believe me, I didn't need anyone else to tell me that I was in the wrong for doing it.
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Thing is, extortion isn't something you do alone. There's always the victim you're extorting. And the fact that you're extorting them means you fully understand what you're doing is against their wishes.
Maybe he didn't fully comprehend the full extent of the emotional distress he was causing in his vicitms. But he damn well knew that "their perspective" of it was that they didn't want it to happen. Otherwise he would've just sent them an email asking them to pose nude, no extortion attempt.
I agree with the article in Salon. Autism spectrum disorder is an overused diagnosis.
HOWEVER that does not mean it's not a real phenomena. I have a son who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. There are several clear differences between him and my other children (who are bright geeky types) including a near eidetic memory and slowness processing spoken language. You might not notice it in a casual context, but it becomes pretty apparent over time.
I am still pissed off at Slashdot publishing this summary in this manner. This shit of a lawyer is still engaging in adverse profiling and contributing to a body of ideas that has no justification.
Austic my arse. Just another excuse. Darryl Hannah now claims to be autistic. A way into the limelight. This punk did wrong, period. But, if he IS autistic you can bet that he will probably get a short probation and fine.
This was *not* about seeing naked girls. As we all know, there is more highly detailed porn on the internet than one person could experience in a lifetime. (Probably. I haven't, like, taken an inventory. But evidence indicates this is the case.)
This was about control. It was very specifically about the feeling of control experienced when forcing someone to do an act they find disgusting.
He wasn't trying to see his victims naked. He could have seen tens of thousands of girls naked for free on the internet. He was very specifically attempting to gain control over his victims, to make them do something that revolted them.
I wonder how his lawyer is going to try to spin this.
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