The 19 year old charged in the sextortion attempt of Miss Teen USA turns out to be one of her former high school classmates, which was a surprise even to her.
From Reuters:
Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf said on Friday it was “weird” to learn that the 19-year-old California man charged with hacking into her webcam and taking nude photos in a so-called “sextortion” case, was a high school classmate.Wolf, 19, told NBC’s “Today” show she has “mixed feelings” a day after the arrest of Jared Abrahams, and that part of her feels sorry for him.”It’s weird for me to be able to put a face to the person who did this to me and to know that it’s somebody I went to high school with,” the beauty queen told “Today.””He was young, my age, and I just think it’s sad that he chose to do this and now has kind of put himself in this big dilemma,” Wolf said. “I don’t think he realizes the consequences that he’s done and the people that he hurt.”Wolf and Abrahams are both from Temecula, in Southern California. The beauty queen told NBC she was not friends with Abrahams in high school, but knew his name and routinely passed him in the hallway.
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It’s creepy enough to find out that someone has been secretly taking nude photos of you in your bedroom for months without your knowledge, but I think there’s something especially disturbing about it to realize that it was someone who was actually acquainted with you, even to a minor extent, in real life.
Investigators found photos and video of the victims on Abrahams’ computer and cell phone when they searched his home, according to the criminal complaint and reported by the Today show. He is alleged to have taken over between 30 to 40 computers in the course of obtaining the images of the victims.
Abrahams has admitted to authorities that he infected his victims’ computers with malware in order to gain unauthorized access to their webcams and take the photos, and to using those photos to try and extort the victims. His attorney claims that Abrahams wants to take responsibility and apologize to the victims and their families, according to Reuters.
Abrahams’ attorney Alan Eisner said his client and his family want to “accept the responsibility” and “apologize to the victims, not only the girls, but their families.””He acknowledges that the violation and the intrusion is a substantial violation of their privacy, their dignity,” said Eisner in a phone interview, adding that Abrahams until recently attended college and is on the autism spectrum which “affects his ability to engage in reciprocal communications.”
Abrahams was released Thursday on $50,000 bond and must wear a GPS tracker. He is also prohibited by the court from using a computer other than for schoolwork. According to Reuters, the judge ordered that monitoring software be installed on a computer in Abrahams’ family’s home. He is expected to appear in court next on November 4th, pending an indictment.
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