Christopher Chaney, best known as the man who hacked into the email accounts of numerous female celebrities and published their naked pictures online, was sentenced by a federal judge this morning to ten years in prison. Prosecutors only asked for a six-year-sentence, but because Chaney went after more celebrities after his computer was first seized, US District Judge S James Otero decided to give the thirty-five-year-old an extra few years.
Because of the sensitive nature of the case, an overwhelming majority of the victims were not publically identified. Prior to the start of the trial, Scarlett Johansson, Christina Aguilera, Renee Olstead and Mila Kunis agreed to have their names divulged to serve as faces for the prosecution. According to The Associated Press, two of the unidentified women weren’t even famous but knew the defendant in real life. He hacked into their accounts and made their naked pictures public, allegedly even sending one girl’s snapshots to her own father.
In addition to his time in prison, Chaney will also be on probation for three years after his release. During that time, the government will monitor his online activity to make sure he’s not hacking into anyone’s accounts or doing anything else illegal.
Since news of the sentence first broke, a surprising number of people have taken to the Internet to complain about the severity of the hacker’s sentence. Apparently, many people think it’s unfair that a man should get a decade in jail when some violent offenders get far less. I’m not sure I agree with that logic since this emotional pain was clearly very real, but I suppose I can see where people are coming from.
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