GUILTY:TX Man Accessed Photos from Underage Girls Social Media
Parents, be a part of your child's social media accounts. This disturbing story is a reality. An Odessa man pleaded guilty in a federal court in El Paso to three counts of cyberstalking.
WHAT HE DID?
According to a press release, Cardona used a two-factor authentication (2FA) scheme to gain access to various young females’ Snapchat accounts to steal their intimate photographs and videos. Cardona then contacted the females using numerous social media accounts on interactive computer services, such as Instagram and Snapchat, and demanded that they “apologize,” or he would publicly release the content. In most cases, Cardona would also demand his victim's video chat with him while engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
THESE ARE THE USER NAMES THAT HE USED:
instagram accounts: “idkprii85,” “designoiram,” “juniorrriram,” “urfavpapi,” “urdvddyjunie” and “juniorrhernandez”
Snapchat accounts: “juniepri,” “asap_juniorrr” and “juniorrriram.”
Cardona is scheduled to be sentenced on June 3 and faces up to 10 years in prison for each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD:
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.