The FBI has arrested a 19 year old in connection to the "sextortion" case involving the newly crowned Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf and at least seven other women.
Jared James Abrahams of Temecula, Calif. is being charged with extortion after allegedly using malicious software to control the computer webcams of women, take nude photographs and videos of them and then emailing the victims threatening to publish the photos.
The criminal complaint said that after installing the "malware" on victim's computers, Abrahams would use a virtual private network to disguise his identity.
The teen admitted to the crimes while police executed a search warrant of his house. He also said that Wolf, who is identified in the complaint as "C.W.," was the first person whose computer he hacked into and that he knew her personally.
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According to the complaint, 18 year old Wolf was the first to alert authorities about the sextortion back in March. At the time, the teen reportedly received an alert claiming one of her social media account passwords had been changed followed by an extortion email that included nude photographs of her. The sender reportedly said that if his demands weren't met the photos would be "plastered all over the Internet."
The complaint states that Abrahams hacked into the account of victims in southern California and Maryland, as well in other countries including Ireland, Canada, Russia and Moldova. At least one victim is a minor.
One of the cases in the complaint states that a 17-year-old girl referred to as "M.M. 1" agreed to communicate with Abraham via Skype but said, "Please remember I'm only 17. Have a heart."
Abrahams allegedly responded, "I'll tell you this right now. I do NOT have a heart!!!"
Abrahams surrendered to agents at the FBI's Orange County office. He was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana Thursday afternoon.
If convicted, Abrahams faces two years in federal prison. However, the investigation for the case against him is still open and additional charges haven't been ruled out.
