Man accused of hacking women and girls’ Snapchat accounts to steal and sell their intimate photos.

A federal grand jury indicted yesterday, Wednesday, a man who allegedly hacked into the accounts of women on social networks – some of them students from the University of Puerto Rico– to have access to intimate photos and subsequently sell them on other platforms.

Brian Luis Valentin Ramos faces five criminal counts related to the possession, distribution and sale of child pornography; conspiring to illegally obtain information from protected computers; and cyber bullying.

Through a press release, the head of the federal Attorney’s Office in Puerto Rico, Stephen Muldrowand the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, in English) in San Juan, Joseph Gonzalezindicated that the defendant’s conspiracy scheme ran from 2020 to the current year.

According to the indictment, Valentín Ramos conspired with other people to gain illegal access to accounts on social networks, such as Snapchat, a platform in which users can share photos or videos with image filters, location, among others. The platform also became famous more than five years ago because it was marketed as the network in which users could share photos or videos with other people and that the content was only seen once.

The indictment adds that Valentín Ramos and the conspirators stole intimate photos of women and then marketed and sold them on platforms such as Twitter, Reddit and Telegram.

“I am selling my content because I obtained it by hacking, making it exclusive,” Valentín Ramos commented in his publications, according to the prosecution.

The charge of cyberbullying is related to the fact that the defendant allegedly harassed one of his adult victims. Besides, owned, distributed and sold explicit photographs of two minors, including a 15-year-old.

The charges of selling and distributing child pornography carry a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of twenty years. Cyber ​​bullying, on the other hand, carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Possession of child pornography carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering US sentencing guidelines and other legal factors. The defendant was arrested last Friday, March 24, and ordered detained pending trial, due to an adjudication that he is a danger to the community.

Assistant United States Attorney Jeanette Collazo is in charge of prosecuting the case, while FBI Special Agent Christian Nieves, attached to the San Juan Cyber ​​Division, is in charge of the investigation.