A man has agreed to plead guilty to his involvement in the leak of nude photos of female celebrities.
Ryan Collins, a 36-year-old from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, will admit to one count of gaining unauthorised access to a protected computer.
Collins is accused of taking part in a phishing scam known as ‘The Fappening’ between November 2012 and September 2014 where he posed as a Google employee to obtain passwords and other private details. However, there is no evidence that Collins himself leaked the nude pictures to the public.
Eileen M. Decker, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said on Tuesday:
“Today, people store important private information in their online accounts and in their digital devices. Lawless, unauthorized access to such private information is a criminal offense. My office remains committed to protecting sensitive and personal information from the malicious actions of sophisticated hackers and cyber criminals.”
It’s understood that Collins’ plea deal could see him serve 18 months in prison, but the judge in the case may still decide to impose a longer sentence.
