Pictured are Rep. Paul Ryan (left) and former intern Adam Savader (right).
Um, Republican family values?
Adam Savader, reportedly a former intern for Paul Ryan, was arrested and charged with Internet extortion and cyber stalking by the FBI on Tuesday. Savader apparently sent anonymous text messages to 15 women saying he had nude photographs and threatening to distribute them unless he was sent more photographs. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison.
FBI:
A 21-year-old Great Neck, New York man was charged in a criminal complaint in the Eastern District of Michigan with Internet extortion and cyber stalking, announced United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade.
Joining in the announcement were Special Agent in Charge Robert D. Foley, III, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Chief John Seto, Ann Arbor Police Department.
According to the affidavit, from May 2012 through February 2013, Adam Paul Savader sent anonymous text messages using Google Voice numbers to 15 women stating that he had nude photographs of the women and threatening to distribute the nude photographs to the women’s friends and family members unless the women sent him more nude photographs of themselves. Savader sent some of the victims links to a photo-sharing website where nude pictures of the victims had been posted.
The case was brought to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation by detectives from the Ann Arbor Police Department, who received a complaint from a victim stating that she had received threatening messages from a person who had illegally obtained nude photographs of her from her e-mail account. Detectives with the Ann Arbor P.D. partnered with FBI agents to investigate the case and together identified 15 victims in Detroit; Washington, D.C.; and Long Island, New York.
If convicted on these charges, Savader faces a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
Savader is currently in federal custody in New York awaiting removal to Michigan.
Savader was also a former campaign intern for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney , as well as an intern for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
He allegedly preyed on women from Michigan, Washington, D.C., and Long Island, prosecutors said, many of whom he knew from high school.
The tech-savvy GOP member has a presence on various social media networks including Facebook and Twitter, reports the Daily News, where he has more than 17,000 followers.
Pictured are failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney (left) and former campaign intern, Adam Savader (right).
