A 19-year-old college freshman accused of carrying out an online "sextortion" scheme that targeted victims around the world-- including the recently crowned Miss Teen USA-- was staying with his grandparents in Claremont this week as officials prepared to monitor his internet usage at his Temecula home.
The Riverside County man accused of using malicious software and tools to disguise his identity and take nude photos or videos of young women through remote operation of their webcams, without their consent, was released Thursday afternoon on $50,000 bond, an FBI spokeswoman said.
Jared James Abrahams made his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana, the same day a federal criminal complaint against him was unsealed after his pre-arranged surrender in Orange.
The Temecula teen will be subject to pretrial supervision and home detention with electronic monitoring, Laura Eimiller of the FBI said in an update on federal court proceedings in Orange County.
Abrahams had agreed to stay at his grandparents' home in Claremont Thursday night, where the computer there was to be locked up, so officials have enough time to install a device that will monitor usage on it at his Temecula home.
Then Abrahams will be confined to his Temecula home and required to wear a GPS monitor. He also will be prohibited from using any computers except for one desktop computer at home for only school work, provided he's able to continue his education.
He is due back in court Nov. 4 for possible arraignment. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing, so it is likely prosecutors will seek an indictment before then.
Abrahams' attorney, Alan Eisner, said after Thursday’s hearing that his client has been diagnosed with autism.
The defendant's family, who were in court Thursday, "want to express their profound regret and remorse for his behavior," Eisner told reporters after the hearing. "They acknowledge the harm to the victims and the victims' families."
Abrahams has received some treatment for his autism before the alleged incidents took place, "but to the level he apparently needs," Eisner said.
U.S. District Judge Jean Rosenbluth struggled with fashioning terms of the defendant's release because of his computer skills and how "ubiquitous" internet-connected devices have become.
"What he did was very serious," the judge said, adding that it amounted to "world-wide compromising of minors' privacy."
Abrahams' mother told the judge she's home all day and could keep an eye on her son. His father pledged to get rid of all computers in the home to ensure his son's release.
Rosenbluth admonished the defendant to avoid computers for anything other than school work or else he would be locked up until trial.
The reigning Miss Teen USA, Cassidy Wolf, 19, alerted the FBI to the alleged scheme. Wolf contacted authorities when she realized she could no longer change her passwords on multiple online accounts, and that an online profile photo of her was replaced with a semi-nude picture of her, according to the FBI.
Wolf then received an email containing a nude photograph of her, threatening to make her "dream of being a model ... into a pornstar" if she failed to capitulate to his demands for more explicit photos, according to the federal complaint.
The photos of Wolf were taken by Abrahams through a camera on her computer after he hacked into it, first at her Orange County home and later following her move to a Temecula residence, authorities said.
According to the FBI, investigators found evidence that Abrahams tried the same scheme on a 19-year-old woman in Maryland, a 17-year-old in Temecula, a 23-year-old woman who was the older sister of another victim, and a 17-year- old girl in Ireland. The FBI also alleges it has found evidence of victims in Canada and Moldova.
Investigators suspect there are more victims they have not identified, according to the FBI's Laura Eimiller.
The teen in Ireland pleaded for mercy, according to the complaint.
"I'm downloading Skype now," the FBI alleges she wrote to Abrahams. "Please remember I'm only 17. Have a heart."
Abrahams is accused of replying, "I'll tell you this right now, I do NOT have a heart!!! However I do stick to my deals! Also age doesn't mean a thing to me!!!"
Abrahams would promise to destroy the embarrassing photos if his alleged victims complied with his demands, according to the FBI complaint.
Abrahams is accused of using "malware," a software that infects other computers and allows hackers to take control of web cams, according to the FBI. Abrahams is accused of even heckling Wolf for making her password too easy to guess.
FBI investigators also allege Abrahams sought help with hacking from others in online forums.
Abrahams would allegedly obtain nude photos of the victims and threaten to make them public if the victims did not send him more sexually suggestive photos and talk to him through the online service, Skype, according to the FBI.
"Abrahams infected people's computers with the DarkComet malware so he could remotely operate their webcams, which he learned about on hacker forums," according to the FBI's complaint. "Abrahams was always at his computer so he would watch his victims change their clothes, and he would use the photographs against them."
One of his alleged victims agreed to talk to him through Skype and took off her clothes at his direction, the complaint said.
Abrahams had about 30 to 40 "slave computers" when the FBI questioned him, and had as many as 100 to 150 in the past for hacking, the FBI alleged.
Anyone who believes they were victimized in this case is urged to call the FBI Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565.
Police in Temecula and Baltimore assisted the FBI in their investigation.
The FBI described Abrahams' alleged actions as "sextortion," which they defined as "a type of extortion and/or blackmail of a victim. Typically, the victim is extorted and/or blackmailed with a nude image of the victim. The person committing the sextortion threatens to release the nude image publicly unless the victim, among other things, performs a sexual act. The person committing the sextortion is typically threatening to harm the reputation of the victim by disclosing the nude image."
The charge of extortion carries a maximum penalty of 2 years in federal prison, according to the FBI.
– City News Service
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