Ex-Northeastern coach sentenced in ‘sextortion’ scheme
Former Northeastern University women’s track coach Steve Waithe, who pleaded guilty in November to victimizing dozens of women through a “sextortion” scheme, was sentenced to five years in prison in federal court Wednesday.
US District Court Judge Patti B. Saris imposed the sentence after hearing statements from several victims of Waithe, who used multiple fake social media accounts to convince them to share nude and semi-nude photographs of themselves, according to court records.
Federal prosecutors had sought a sentence of seven years in prison, saying Waithe left behind “a devastating path riddled with literally dozens of victims whose most private and personal images were taken from them, used for Waithe’s own sexual benefit, and distributed to untold creeps around the world via marketplaces designed for the trafficking of so-called ‘leaked’ photos and videos.”
Waithe’s lawyer, public defender Jane Peachy, had sought a sentence of 27 months in prison.
“This case and the publicity it has brought will affect Mr. Waithe the rest of his life. Once a young black man with a bright future, his life will look much different now going forward. The stigma of this case alone is a very real and significant form of punishment for Mr. Waithe,” Peachy wrote in court records.
In a letter to the judge, Waithe said he would offer “nothing but remorse and empathy” at his sentencing.
“Since the moment of my arrest, there has only been two things that have mattered to me,” Waithe wrote to Saris. “Apologizing to the victims on sentencing day, and setting myself up for positive outcomes in my future. I know that I will soon be able to speak to the victims, and I on that day, I will be filled with nothing but remorse and empathy.”
Waithe, 30, was a track and field coach at Northeastern, Penn State University, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Tennessee, and Concordia University Chicago, according to federal prosecutors.
Many of the victims were women Waithe knew from childhood, college, and his coaching career, according to federal records.
Waithe, who has been jailed since his arrest in April 2021, pleaded guilty to cyberstalking a woman and her boyfriend in 2020 by saying he was guarding her privacy while he hacked into her Instagram account and stole her private photos, federal prosecutors said.
In all, Waithe pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, one count of cyberstalking, one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, and one count of computer fraud, aiding and abetting, federal prosecutors said.
“He exploited his trusted role as a coach to college athletes to engage in a sextortion campaign that has left a trail of emotional devastation in its wake,” Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement. “We stand by the courageous victims who came forward and help this Office hold Mr. Waithe accountable. The array of on-line threats is striking, and this Office will be vigilant in investigating and prosecuting those who sexually exploit victims,”
Waithe admitted that he stole images from the victims’ social media accounts and exchanged them with others online. He also posed as women who were overseeing a “body development” study that he falsely claimed was protected by HIPAA, the federal medical privacy law, according to prosecutors.
“Waithe’s victims are now nurses, teachers, dieticians, coaches, and graduate students. And they live in constant fear that they will hear from someone about explicit photos on the internet, or that as part of a grad school or job application someone will conduct the wrong Google search,” prosecutors wrote.
In a statement earlier this month, one of Waithe’s victims described the impact on her life.
“Instead of being coached that year, I was targeted, groomed, preyed on, and repeatedly violated. He stole my phone, my photos, and my right to privacy . ... The pain and emotional damage I’ve endured over the past several years is immeasurable. It has haunted me through every new [phase] of my life, always existing like a black cloud plotting its next storm. I constantly feel violated, used, and fearful.”
Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office, said “the depth of deceit demonstrated by Steve Waithe in this case is deeply disturbing.”