Hollywood hacker faces 10 years in prison
A computer hacker who broke into the email accounts of more than 50 people in the entertainment industry, including Scarlett Johansson and the singer Christina Aguilera, has been jailed for 10 years.
Christopher Chaney, 36, was sentenced in Los Angeles after U.S. District Judge S. James Otero heard from a tearful Johansson in a videotaped statement.
The actress said she had felt “truly humiliated and embarrassed” when topless photographs she took of herself, which were intended for her thenhusband Ryan Reynolds, were placed on the Internet as a result of the hacking.
Some of Aguilera’s private photographs appeared online after Chaney sent an email from the account of her stylist, asking the singer for scantily clad images.
Before the sentencing Aguilera said: “That feeling of security can never be given back and there is no compensa- tion that can restore the feeling one has from such a large invasion of privacy.”
Chaney, 35, a former office clerk from Jacksonville, Fla., was arrested in October 2011 as part of an investigation dubbed Operation Hackerazzi. He was initially charged with 28 counts related to hacking but struck a plea deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to nine counts including wiretapping and unauthorized access to protected computers. He was ordered to pay $66,179 in restitution to victims.
The women, who both knew Chaney, said their lives have been irreparably damaged by his actions, and described him as “calculated, cruel and creepy.”
Chaney said he had become addicted to spying on the personal lives of celebrities. He said: “I don’t know what else to say except I’m sorry. This will never happen again.”
“I was almost relieved months ago when they came in and took my computer because I didn’t know how to stop.”