Man accused of coercing women online to go nude
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man's unusually complicated hunt for nudity on the Internet may land him in prison for more than 100 years after federal prosecutors say he hacked into hundreds of social media and email accounts to coerce more than 350 women into showing him their naked bodies.
Karen "Gary" Kazaryan, 27, of Glendale, was arrested Tuesday after he was named in an indictment Friday alleging 15 counts of computer intrusion and 15 counts of aggravated identity theft, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison.
Prosecutors accuse Kazaryan of hacking into the women's accounts and searching Facebook messages, emails and other files for nude or semi-nude pictures of them.
He then posed as a friend, persuading them to strip while he watched via Skype, captured images of them, or both.
When the women discovered that Kazaryan was posing as a friend, he often blackmailed them with the nude photos he had fraudulently obtained to coerce more stripping, prosecutors said. In some cases, he's accused of posting the nude photos to the victims' Facebook pages.
About 3,000 pictures of nude and semi-nude women were found on Kazaryan's computer, authorities said.
FBI investigators estimate Kazaryan had more than 350 victims, but all of the women have not yet been identified. Authorities are asking people who believe they may have been a victim to contact FBI offices in Los Angeles.
Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said most of the victims were local.
Kazaryan faces up to 105 years in prison if he's convicted on all counts. An after-hours call to his lawyer, Stephen Demik, was not immediately returned.
Karen "Gary" Kazaryan, 27, of Glendale, was arrested Tuesday after he was named in an indictment Friday alleging 15 counts of computer intrusion and 15 counts of aggravated identity theft, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison.
Prosecutors accuse Kazaryan of hacking into the women's accounts and searching Facebook messages, emails and other files for nude or semi-nude pictures of them.
He then posed as a friend, persuading them to strip while he watched via Skype, captured images of them, or both.
When the women discovered that Kazaryan was posing as a friend, he often blackmailed them with the nude photos he had fraudulently obtained to coerce more stripping, prosecutors said. In some cases, he's accused of posting the nude photos to the victims' Facebook pages.
About 3,000 pictures of nude and semi-nude women were found on Kazaryan's computer, authorities said.
FBI investigators estimate Kazaryan had more than 350 victims, but all of the women have not yet been identified. Authorities are asking people who believe they may have been a victim to contact FBI offices in Los Angeles.
Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said most of the victims were local.
Kazaryan faces up to 105 years in prison if he's convicted on all counts. An after-hours call to his lawyer, Stephen Demik, was not immediately returned.
He "coerced" them into going online in the nude, and they did!
Wow! That's how easy it is for females to take their clothes off for anyone - whether their paid for it or not.Â
What a country we live in. I disagree with his prison sentence 100%, maybe only a few months (don't want him to be out of touch with the world too much) - the females who went nude should be charged.
Ok what this guy did was wrong. But seriously people⦠donât take nude or semi-nude photos with any medium. That way you donât ever have to worry about something like this occurring.
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Secondlyâ¦. How does one pose as someone else on Skype? I have never used Skype. My understanding of the software is that Its for video chat.
105 years?
what woman or man for that matter in this day and age posts something on line that believes it will stay private?  i am certainly NOT excusing the man, but really - i teach my grandkids that there is NO guarantee of privacy on line and what is posted is there to stay . . .likely forever somewhere in cyberspace. so choose wisely or be prepared for consequences.
as sick and twisted this is the punishment does not fit the crime. when you have murders get just a few years.
Yes, what he did was wrong, but honestly, DON'T put nude or semi-nude pictures of yourself online or send through email/text. WHY do that?? It always risks ending up in an ex's hands, coworker's hands, or worse, that creep.
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Are these women registered voters?Â
Tuba Man's killers get a few months, this clown blackmails some people into embarrassing themselves and faces a possible century in prison? Nope, nothing is broken.
This headline is funny...sounded like HE was going to go nude! Â ACK!
And all the while he's saying to himself "It's just too easy to get women to strip these days". Keep your clothes on women!
"Karen,"Gary" Kazaryan" Â begins to explain some of this, but not all of this ,