BERKELEY, CA – An child porn probe led to the arrest of a 19-year-old Berkeley man who hacked his victims according to the Berkeley Police Department.
The suspect’s arrest Monday evening culminated an investigation that originated in early May at Berkeley High School with several victims before widening to include 17 victims from private and public schools in Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin counties, police said.
The suspect amassed a collection of more than 130 child porn videos including images of children aged 3 to 12, and personal information including names, logins and passwords of over 100 people for the purpose of accessing their social media accounts according to police.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday charged the suspect with felony possession of child pornography, multiple felony counts of accessing “hacking” computer systems, felony identity theft, and multiple counts of distributing private intimate images, also known as revenge porn, police said.
Berkeley High School officials on May 10 notified the BPD’s School Resource Officer that several female students had their social media accounts hacked to search for and access personal nude photographs, police said.
The hacker posted the underage nude photographs to various social media sites and then attempted to extort the victims for more nude photographs according to police.
The School Resource Officer coordinated with Youth Services detectives to identify the suspect with FBI assistance.
Anyone with information about this case or who believes they may be a victim is asked to contact BPD’s Youth Service Detail at (510) 981-5715.