Ex-Northeastern track coach charged with nude photo scheme

BOSTON — A former track and field coach at Boston’s Northeastern University was arrested Wednesday and charged with using bogus social media accounts to try to trick female student-athletes into sending him nude photos of themselves, prosecutors said.

Steve Waithe, 28, of Chicago, is accused of creating fake social media accounts to contact track and field athletes and offering to help get rid of compromising photos of them he claimed to have found online.

Starting in at least February 2020, Wait he would send pictures hehadobtained of the victims and try to persuade themtosendmore explicit photos to himso he could “reverse image search,” authorities said in court documents.

Waithe also would regularly ask to use female athletes’ cellphones at practice and meets so that he could film their form. One victim told authorities that at least once she saw Waithe scrolling on her phone instead of recording.

Waithe, who is charged with cyberstalking and wire fraud in Boston federal court, appeared before a judge in Chicago, and a hearing was scheduled for Friday to determine whether he should remain detained.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate McClelland called Waithe’s conduct “brazen and predatory” and said authorities feared he would try to intimidate the victims if released.

Waithe’s attorney, Jack Corfman, noted that Waithe has no criminal history and said he is not accused of disclosing the images publicly or retaliating against people whodidn’t send him more photos.

Corfman declined to comment in an email to Associated Press on Wednesday.

Waithe worked at Northeastern from October 2018 until February 2019, when, the school says, he was fired as a result of a university investigation into his “inappropriate conduct toward female student-athletes.”

“Impacted students were provided with counseling and other resources. The university also contacted federal law enforcement officials and worked in full cooperation for the duration of the federal investigation,” Renata Nyul, a Northeastern spokesperson, said in an email.