Jailed, sex attacker who used Amazon’s Alexa to spy on mum and toddler
A CONVICTED sex offender who spied on a young woman using her Amazon Alexa device has been jailed in a landmark case.
Aaron Herschell, who was caged for the attempted rape of a teenager in 2017, monitored his victim’s conversations in her home.
And in a move condemned as ‘sinister’ by a sheriff, he also used the Alexa device to ‘groom’ the woman’s toddler daughter.
Earlier this month The Scottish Mail on Sunday revealed how the case – the first of its kind in Scotland – raised concerns about the security of Amazon’s ‘always listening’ gadgets which are now a fixture in millions of households.
MPs probing the use and potential abuse of smart technology issued a chilling warning that criminals could use such devices to spy on people in their homes.
Last week Livingston Sheriff Court heard alarming details of how Herschell used the technology to terrorise his victim and to try to gain access to her daughter.
He had previously admitted using the Alexa device to snoop on his victim and to behaving in a ‘threatening or abusive manner’ at an address in West Lothian in May this year as well as adopting a fake identity.
On Thursday, the 25-year-old appeared in the dock for sentencing. The court was told Herschell, from Livingston, was a registered sex offender who had already been banned from forming new relationships with women or from using social media. However, using the name Matthew Dent he contacted his latest victim on May 5 on an online dating site.
Herschell managed to persuade the young mum, who lives alone with her daughter, to pair the Amazon Alexa speaker in her home to his. He then listened in for extended periods.
Miral Jaber, prosecuting, said: ‘She would often wake up and hear the accused say, “Hi baby”.
‘Unless he spoke on the speaker she had no way of telling if he was listening to her device.
‘The accused paid particular interest to her 20-month-old daughter. He would call himself her daddy and try to get her to call him “daddy” as well as singing her a lullaby at bedtime.
‘The accused indicated he wanted to visit and take her daughter out for the day.’
Herschell then insisted on setting up a video call so he could see the youngster and read her a bedtime story.
Things came to a head on May 15 when the victim woke to find multiple missed calls and messages asking why she was not answering.
From one of his online accounts, she discovered Herschell’s real name, then found out he was a sex offender and contacted police.
Jailing Herschell for 45 months, Sheriff Peter Hammond told him: ‘You have an atrocious record for sexual offending and have several breaches of sexual harm prevention orders.
‘You conducted a campaign of controlling and intrusive conduct to a point that can only be described as sinister. You adopted a false identity and persuaded her to allow you to connect her device to monitor her home.
‘Most significantly, you made efforts to communicate with her daughter. You accept there was a sexual element to this offence. You present a significant risk to women and children.’
Conservative MP Julian Knight, whose Commons committee is preparing a report titled Connected Tech: Smart or Sinister?, said: ‘This technology is open to abuse, particularly by individuals like this. People need to be careful.’
An Amazon spokesman said: ‘Privacy and security are built into all our devices and we are always working to do more in this area.’
‘Your conduct can only be described as sinister’