San Jose Chinese Man Pleads Guilty in New York Federal Court to Cyberstalking and Aggravated Identity Theft Involving Private Images of More Than 6,000 Women
A 31-year-old Chinese man from San Jose, in Santa Clara County, California, recently pleaded guilty in federal court in New York, admitting to cyberstalking and aggravated identity theft. According to an October 26 report by the World Journal, San Jose resident Chen Yang (Max Yang Chen, name transliterated) admitted the related charges in a New York federal court on October 23.
According to the plea agreement announced on October 23 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York, between March 2021 and June 18, 2023, Chen unlawfully accessed the social media accounts of multiple young women, including three victims located in the Western District of New York. Prosecutors said he possessed hundreds of thousands of private photos and videos involving more than 6,000 young women.
After entering victims' accounts, he would search for and download private photos, then send the photos to the victims to prove he had control of their accounts; he even posted private images directly on victims' social media pages, or sent harassing and threatening messages with sexually humiliating and violent content, and some victims were further extorted.
The two counts Chen admitted carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a $250,000 fine; the actual sentence will be determined by the court later. The case is another reminder for social media users to mind account security, change passwords regularly and enable two-factor verification.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿特区的联邦调查局总部胡佛大楼。图：Tony Webster，CC BY 2.0，经维基共享资源。 / Photo: The J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building in Washington, D.C.. Photo: Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
